Over the course of the last week, laboratory confirmed Covid-19 cases in Hamden have risen from 65 to 183, and three residents have died due to infection from the virus.
Hamden Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Management Gary Merwede gave that update in an email to the Independent on Thursday.
“We are clearly in the community-spread acceleration phase of this outbreak,” he wrote.
Wednesday evening, Mayor Curt Leng held a “town hall” on Facebook live from his deck (see below). He urged residents to stay home, to leave only when absolutely necessary, and to wear a mask in public.
He said health officials have told him to assume that for every confirmed positive case in the town, there are likely 100 other people who have the virus but have not been tested.
“We must presume Hamden has over 10,000 residents right now who have the Coronavirus,” Leng wrote in a statement. “One out of every six houses on your street, one out of every six people in the shopping line, could be contagious to you or a loved one.”
In his Facebook Live town hall, Leng said the town, and the state, are likely entering a phase of the outbreak where the number of infections will double every two days.
The Quinnipiac Valley Health District, the health district for Hamden, North Haven, Bethany, and Woodbridge, only releases limited demographic data about cases in its service area every few days. As of Wednesday, the age group with the most cases across the whole district was people in their fifties. For the most part, women have become infected at higher rates than men. The numbers are now out of date, however.
Quinnipiac Valley Health District
For Hamden, North Haven, Bethany, and Woodbridge as of April 8.
Merwede said the fire department has been treating about 12 people each day with symptoms of the novel coronavirus. “The change we are currently seeing with the patients in the past week is that they are presenting with very serious conditions associated with hypoxia and extreme shortness of breath,” he wrote. He said that at the moment, the department is able to absorb that volume of calls and maintain its normal response rate.
Other updates include:
• The Keefe Community Center is now serving twice as many people as normal through its food pantries. Community Development Manager Adam Sendroff said the three weekly distribution days usually serve about 100 people. Next week, he said, they will serve 200. The pantries have become a grab and go operation, and certain eligible clients can get food delivered to them. The Keefe Center is accepting donations of food and money. For more information on the food bank, call 203 – 562-5129 ext. 1110.
• Hamden Public Schools has served over 20,000 meals since it first started distributing breakfasts and lunches to anyone under 18 on March 16. At the beginning, the district averaged 600 – 700 meals a day, said Superintendent Jody Goeler. Now the daily average has reached well over 1,000. On Thursday alone, the district gave out 5,600 meals, which includes meals for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because of Good Friday. “On the one hand I’m proud that we can do this,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s a sign of the need of our community. It’s devastating.”
Distribution takes place from 9 a.m. to noon every weekday at the Church Street School, Keefe Center, Ridge Hill School, Hamden Middle School, and Hamden High School. Meals for the weekend are available at the end of the week.
• Goeler said the district received 1000 Chromebooks for distance learning, and has given most of them to families that need internet-connected devices for their children. Distance learning is underway for students in every grade. “I continue to stress that the most important thing we are aware of is our students’ mental health and the mental health of our families,” Goeler said. He said teachers and social workers are calling students and their families to check up on them and make sure they’re well.
• Hamden’s government center had to close down completely for two days after a staff member came to work showing symptoms. All town buildings are closed to the public, but some staff have been working from the government center to keep town business running. A company came to do a deep clean Wednesday evening, and staff were back at work Thursday.
• The town will be making lawn signs, similar to political campaign signs, that say “We are staying home to save lives,” Leng said in his Facebook Live “town hall.” They will be free, but Leng said the town is asking that those who can make a small donation when they get one to benefit the town’s food bank and other community services.
I think it's important for the news media to analyze comments by public officials, for example, "He said health officials have told him to assume that for every confirmed positive case in the town, there are likely 100 other people who have the virus but have not been tested." Who are these "health officials"? Is this a reasonable estimate?