Case Prevalence Per 10,000 By Town
For the Week Ending May 25
SUSAN BIGELOW
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Connecticut’s had a good week, in as much as any week can be considered ‘good’ in the middle of this nightmare. Numbers of new cases of the coronavirus dropped to levels not seen since late March, in terms of both actual numbers of cases and numbers of cases per 10,000 residents. Hospitalizations continue to fall, despite a very slight uptick on Monday, as do deaths.
This week’s prevalence map, which shows the number of new cases per 10,000 residents in each town, is very much a relief after last week’s, which showed multiple hotspots around the state. All of those have ebbed to one degree or another, though prevalence numbers for Bridgeport, Windsor, and Bloomfield remain stubbornly high.
One thing that connects those three towns is a high percentage of black residents. Statistics from the state continue to show that black residents continue to suffer much greater rates of infection and death, a legacy of systemic racism and health care discrimination.
The only new hotspot this week is in Montville, the home of the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center. The prison tested all 1,009 inmates last week, and the vast majority of the 139 new cases in the town came from there. That’s around 1 in 10 inmates infected, a shocking statistic.
Prisons continue to see the disease spreading rapidly among their populations. One of last week’s hotspots, in Somers, was because of the prison located there.
Apart from that, it’s tempting to think the worst is behind us. And it may very well be. These numbers could continue to trend down, despite the state’s gradual re-opening.
Or we may find that even our very cautious opening leads to more infections, more hospitalizations, and more deaths. The gains Connecticut has made are incredibly fragile. We must not let our guard down yet.
Case Prevalence Per 10,000 By Town
For the Week Ending May 18
Susan Bigelow is an award-winning columnist and the founder of CTLocalPolitics. She lives in Enfield with her wife and their cats.
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