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First Selectman Fred Camillo Holds Final COVID-19 Briefing of 2020

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By Richard Kaufman

Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo gave his final COVID-19 briefing of 2020 on Wednesday, and said that brighter days are ahead in 2021 as he reflected on the past year.

“As we look forward to 2021, there are a lot of positive signs there. I would love for people to just reflect as we’re saying goodbye to one year and welcoming in a new one, to take the lessons that we learned and the experiences that we had since March and use them for the good. 2020 showed that we can persevere,” Camillo said.

“It’s been a heartache for a lot of people, whether they’ve lost people or if they were sick themselves, or lost their jobs. A lot of people still haven’t recovered from that. They need not only our prayers and our thoughts, but they need our help in any way we can,” he added. “Better times are ahead. We’re in the seventh inning of a nine inning game. We’re almost there, but let’s make sure we win the game, and we will.”

Camillo also expressed optimism for businesses in 2021. He cited the reinvigoration of Greenwich Avenue in recent months as a silver lining during the pandemic. He also pointed to restaurants being able to adjust and survive with outdoor dining and increased takeout services.

“We took a real negative and a scary time, and businesses adjusted and did things differently,” Camillo said. “We walked the Avenue and the other business districts, asking [business owners] what they needed. We got them outside, and we were one of the earliest towns to do that, and we liked what we saw.”

Camillo said that he hopes outdoor dining, and the pedestrian mall feel of Greenwich Avenue can be a yearly occurrence for a few months, if not year round.

COVID-19 numbers update

There is some good news in the latest COVID-19 numbers at Greenwich Hospital and within the Yale New Haven Health System.

As of noon on Wednesday, Greenwich Hospital was treating 37 COVID-19 positive patients, down from 41 at the same time last week. There are five patients being treated in the Intensive Care Unit.

Overall as of noon on Wednesday, Yale New Haven Health had 324 patients in house across its system, compared to 391 last week.

On the vaccination front, Greenwich Hospital has vaccinated 1,700 employees since the rollout began two weeks ago. Two hundred and thirty seven employees were scheduled to receive vaccine doses on Wednesday. Yale New Haven Health has administered 11,611 vaccinations altogether.

In the Town of Greenwich, there has been an increase of 189 COVID cases since last week, bringing the total number of residents who have tested positive since the pandemic began to 2,432.

There are currently 165 active cases of COVID-19, up 32 from last week. Four residents have died as a result of the virus over the past week, bringing the total number of deaths in town to 67.

Camillo said the town remains on the lookout for a post-holiday spike in cases, but the numbers to this point have been predicted.

“It could be a lot worse, but it’s what we expected. Overall, the fact that December was a very active month with cases, everybody warned against that. We’re where we thought we would be. I’m really proud of our town and how we responded. It’s been a team effort,” Camillo said.

With New Year’s Eve on Thursday, Camillo urged residents to celebrate responsibly and keep their guards up against the virus.

“Try if you can to [celebrate] with people you’re close with. Stay away from large gatherings and people that are unfamiliar to you. If you’re out and about and have to be in close proximity with people you’re not familiar with or more than you’re normally with, keep your masks on, keep a distance, and wash your hands.”

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