With the uptick in coronavirus cases across the state, residents in several communities are on high alert as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down.
"A lot of it boils down to individual responsibility within the community," said Charles Brown, director of health for the Central Connecticut Health District.
Many of the towns the organization covers have managed to stay in the Orange Alert level while areas close by have had an uptick in cases and gone to the red alert. So, what makes the difference?
Brown said the difference is "really the 3W’s: washing your hands, wearing a mask and watching your distance. Those actions really do help to limit the spread of the disease and can be the difference between an orange and red town."
The state deems an Orange Alert area 10 to 14 positive cases per 100,000 population while 15 or more positive cases per 100,000 population is the Red Alert. But Brown said the virus is holding no punches regardless of where you live.
"The disease doesn’t respect the town border first and foremost so really it’s important that we need to do across the board," Brown said.
Local
"Some of it is in our large municipalities. They don’t have the option of quarantining and isolating effectively in the household sometimes and you are seeing spread within families within the communities so it can be very challenging and some of the settings to even do the right thing," Brown continued.
Mike Powers lives in Wethersfield but will be returning home outside of the state for Thanksgiving to see his family. He said it’s important to spend time with the ones you love, but safety is a top priority.
"I try to do my part in terms of looking out for myself and other people," Powers said. "Yeah, I’ll be asking my family to take a COVID test. I know it’s a little bit presumptuous of me to be like 'hey mom' but I think it’s just safe I think it’s the right thing to do."
