State officials on Monday reported three additional confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in New Canaan over the weekend.
In addition to the town’s total ticking up from 219 to 222 confirmed cases since Friday, the Connecticut Department of Public Health reported one additional probable case of the virus here.
The new data come on the heels of First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on Friday disclosing that New Canaan had five new positive test results last week. During the town-wide outcall, Moynihan detailed yet more signs of community transmission in New Canaan, saying the virus appeared to be spreading “from interactions outside of the school system.”
Last week’s five new cases included two people who are younger than 20 and related to each other “while the other three cases are of varying ages and unrelated to each other,” he said.
Reached by NewCanaanite.com via email early Tuesday, New Canaan Health Director Jenn Eielson said the newest cases represent out-of-state college students and non-related cases of individuals over 50. Eielson said Oct. 1 that community spread of COVID-19 “is back” here “and a little bit on the rise.”
Though the new cases continued to come in last week, Moynihan veered little from an outcall script that includes this language: “[W]hile the virus is present in our community we are not seeing community transmission at our schools, but rather from interactions outside of the school system.”
Moynihan has been doing the outcalls himself since June, when he ousted then-Emergency Management Director Mike Handler.
Asked for his view of how New Canaan is faring amid the pandemic, Handler said in an email response to NewCanaanite.com that he didn’t think it was “in the Town’s best interest to have competing views while we are in the midst of the pandemic.”
“For better or worse, we have our leadership and I am certainly rooting for their success,” he said.
[Note: This article has been updated with information from the town’s health director.]
It would be helpful if our health dept could outline what this community transmission means for our safety and additional precautions that need to be taken. It seems the approach is reactive rather than getting in front of the problem. It also seems New Canaan is reporting more cases than nearby similar towns. Mike Handler did regular interviews and town halls to answer questions and add clarity— the same approach would be welcome from current leaders. What does this increase mean …and what steps are being taken? It does make you wonder about asymptomatic spread in our community and the need for broader testing.