The mayors of three Fairfield County cities have announced they are rolling back their respective municipalities to Phase 2 of the state”™s reopening plan due to increasing levels of Covid-19 cases.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim took to Twitter yesterday afternoon to announce his decision.
“In response to the recent increase of COVID-19 cases in #Bridgeport, we’ll announce implementation of temp restrictions & city operations with a roll back to Phase 2 procedures to control spread of #COVID-19 in our community,” he tweeted. “Announcement with Protocols and info tomorrow.”
In Norwalk, Mayor Harry Rilling issued a statement saying his city”™s rollback with become effective on Nov. 1 at 12:00 p.m.
“This is a difficult decision, as I do not want to see our local businesses impacted, but my priority remains the health and safety of our residents,” said Rilling. “Our cases are rising and I am deeply concerned. We are now seeing increased cases for those over 70 years of age and we know this population is at higher risk of serious illness and death from this virus.”
In Stamford, Mayor David Martin announced his city”™s rollback by warning that a second wave of the pandemic is now beginning.
“Unfortunately, this means we must change our behavior immediately,” he said in a statement. “This second wave is no longer speculative or a possibility, it is happening right now. There is no feasible way to get our community and economy close to normal if everyone is getting sick. I am reluctant to make this decision because I know how it will impact our businesses and community, but the City of Stamford must rollback to Phase 2 as soon as possible.”
The three cities were cited by the Connecticut Department of Health as being red alert areas with 15 or more reported cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people. The rollback to Phase 2, which is a voluntary decision and not mandated by the state, relates to lowering indoor capacity levels for businesses and personal services to 50%, limiting indoor religious gatherings to a 25% building capacity with no more than 100 people total, and limiting indoor private gatherings to 25 people.
Fairfield County”™s two other cities, Danbury and Shelton, have not announced plans for a Phase 2 rollback. Danbury was cited by the Department of Health as a red alert area two weeks ago, but Mayor Mark Boughton has yet to announce a rollback, while Shelton”™s reported 9.2 cases per 100,000 people puts it far below the red alert level. No other Fairfield County locality has been named as a red alert area for Covid-19 case increases.
