No Visitors Allowed at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals Due to Rising COVID Cases

As of Friday, October 30, both New Milford and Danbury Hospitals have issued a No Visitors policy.

Nuvance Health laid it on the line when they told Hearst Connecticut Media, "This is out of an abundance of caution and to ensure a healthy and safe environment for our patients and staff." They also added this is the rule with the exception of extenuating circumstances. What does that mean?

In this specific context, extenuating circumstances that would allow visitors include: predicted end-of-life, patients with cognitive issues which include dementia or developmental disabilities, patients with behavior-based concerns, and patients who need communication support.

Currently, there are 30 red alert towns in Connecticut. The criteria for becoming a red alert town, according to the newstimes.com, is "if they have an average of 15 confirmed positive cases of coronavirus over 14 days per 100,000 residents".

When a municipality is considered in the red alert category, it means high-risk people should try and stay home as much as possible. Gatherings with non-family members should be avoided, and towns are encouraged to cancel public events and indoor activities.

According to Patch Across Connecticut, the Coronavirus positivity rate is up to 6.1 percent, which is not good. There are 1,319 new confirmed cases and five deaths. Danbury leads the way with 145 new cases over the past 24 hours, followed by Norwalk at 112. The Connecticut municipalities with the most coronavirus cases are:

1. Bridgeport - 4,934
2. Stamford - 4,226
3. Hartford - 4,122
4. Danbury - 3,543
5. New Haven - 3,463
6. Waterbury - 3,089
7. Norwalk - 2,960