Schools stay open as COVID-19 spreads

Two residents of the Geer Village Senior Community in North Canaan died because of the coronavirus last week. They are the latest victims of COVID-19, which has hit the assisted living facility hard.

Until this new increase in infections nationwide, there had been no Geer residents, and staff with positive test results.

Last month, COVID-19 infections pushed North Canaan into the Red Zone of towns in Connecticut with the highest percentage of positive test cases. As of Nov. 7, the Red Zone standing puts the rural Litchfield County town in the company of 68 other communities impacting about 60% of Connecticut residents.

Geer Village was the hardest hit, with 48 positive cases and four deaths reported as of Thursday, Nov. 6.

Elsewhere in the six town Region One School district, small clusters of the disease impacted The Hotchkiss School in Salisbury, Sharon Hospital and several of the public elementary schools as well as the shared high school in Region One (which includes Canaan/Falls Village, Cornwall, Kent, North Canaan, Salisbury and Sharon).

Gov. Ned Lamont has rolled back Connecticut’s coronavirus reopening regulations to a modified Phase 2, which took effect Friday, Nov 6. As part of the order, all restaurants must now reduce indoor dining capacity from 75% back to 50% and close at 10 p.m. 

Also responding to rising cases, on Thursday, Nov. 11, the Department of Public Health issued an advisory urging all state residents to limit nonessential trips between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in an effort to reduce viral transmission from informal private gatherings. 

Great Falls Brewery

Just as outdoor dining wraps up and cold weather descends, the governor’s Phase 2 order is serving up a double-whammy to the restaurant sector.

“We are slashing hours to bare bones for everyone,” said Chris Tripler, co-owner of Great Falls Brewery in North Canaan. “We expect a major revenue drop this month and going forward into winter.” 

Like other eating establishments around the state, outdoor dining — whether under tents, on the sidewalk or in parking lots — helped keep their business afloat. The brewery owner said that once outdoor seating ends, he has no choice but to cut hours for employees. As a result of lost hours, many staff will also lose income from tips.

The state’s rollback also sets limits for restaurants, ordering them to close by 10 p.m. and to limit the number of patrons at one table to eight. Customers cannot be served after 9:30 p.m.

Tripler said his brewery’s hours will not be impacted by the Phase 2 early closing, as his establishment has a self-imposed curfew of 9 p.m. Ever since the pandemic started, he said, “We’ve always had a contingency plan” which included an expansion of outdoor dining options, strict social distancing rules and a “robust health policy. We’ve been acting like this is a very serious issue at all times.”

“I feel for the restaurants in town,” said North Canaan First Selectman Charles Perotti. Two weeks ago, when North Canaan’s rising coronavirus cases put it in the Red Zone, the town’s top official had the option of choosing whether or not to revert from Phase 3 opening regulations to the more restrictive Phase 2. 

Perotti felt that because the spread was primarily contained within the Geer Village assisted living facility, which was locked down, that North Canaan should remain in Phase 3. 

But within days, Lamont ordered the modified Phase 2.

Perotti has maintained that unlike the state’s more populated towns, there is currently very little community spread in North Canaan. Tightened restrictions will only pose a “great hardship” on the few eateries in his town and in the surrounding communities. Referring to the governor’s order, which overrides his opinion, “He’s got to do what he’s got to do, but it definitely hurts the small towns.”

Region One stays open 

Lamont has said the stricter rules are necessary in order to avoid a larger shutdown later and to help keep the schools open.

For now, public schools, including those in Region One, have the green light to use their discretion in determining whether to revert from in-person learning to a hybrid model of in-person and remote instruction.

“At this point we don’t feel we have to move to a hybrid model in North Canaan,” which is under a ‘red alert’ for a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, “or elsewhere in Region One,” said Lisa Carter, interim superintendent for the Region One School District. 

As a result of discussions with the state departments of public health, education and the Torrington Area Health District, said Carter, “It was determined that at this point the schools are not transmission sites. We are, however, ready to pivot on a dime if we need to make a different decision. But right now, it doesn’t seem necessary to do that.”

Screening and state
health advisory

At Sharon Hospital, which reported zero hospitalizations involving individuals with coronavirus as of Thursday, Nov. 5, spokeswoman Marina Ballantine said one employee contracted COVID-19, bringing the total staff infections in recent weeks at Sharon Hospital to four. 

Contact tracing is ongoing with the state health department and the hospital’s infection control team.

Counseling available

Geer Village announced the deaths of two additional residents due to COVID-19 on Friday, Nov. 6, and one new positive case among a resident, bringing total positive cases at its Assisted Living Facility to 48 (34 residents and 15 staff). 

 Since the viral infection was first detected on the North Canaan campus last month, four residents have died. 

All residents and staff continue to be tested weekly in accordance with state health department requirements. The campus will be declared COVID-19 free only when three consecutive weeks of testing reveal zero positive cases, according to Geer CEO Kevin O’Connell.

“As the first exposed individuals complete their quarantine period or treatment, staff and residents may now begin to be classified as recovered,” according to the update by Geer. “We are happy to report that most of our positive cases have recovered.” 

O’Connell said counselors are being made available to staff, residents, families and anyone in the community through a partnership with the McCall Center for Behavioral Health. “We have coaches who will do counseling with people who are dealing with hardships as a result of the pandemic,” said O’Connell.

According to Maria Coutant Skinner, McCall’s executive director, a grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allowed her agency to hire three counselors and a supervisor to assist “anybody who has been adversely affected by COVID-19.” 

Skinner said although the funding was originally designated for a natural disaster, “We have never had a disease like this,” which constitutes a major public health disaster. As a result, the outreach program, she said, was rolled out in July and aims to help those with a recent diagnosis, someone who lost a family member, or a health care worker on the front lines.

 “We know that the nursing home population was horribly devastated. And think of all the people who care for them … and the trauma associated with that. They are still in the thick of it, and are heartbroken and exhausted,” said the McCall executive director. “We want to make it easy for them to get the help and support they need. They haven’t exhaled yet.”

Noble Horizons

At the Noble Horizons Senior Community in Salisbury, Administrator William Pond said he is thankful that as of Friday, Nov. 6 — and since the pandemic began — his facility has had no positive cases of COVID-19. 

Nonetheless, said Pond, who has experience as a cognitive therapist, he is keenly aware of the stress, fatigue and mental toll the pandemic has placed on his employees. Several staff, he said, have sought in-house counseling to help them cope with the daily stress.