East Windsor town leaders are asking the public to continue adhering to state guidelines put in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The warning comes after the town's first selectman was notified about 31 positive cases at Mulnite Farm.
"My hope is that the state is able to share with the town a solid plan that is focused on keeping the community safe and limiting community spread," said Jason Bowsza, first selectman of East Windsor. "The bottom line is that the town has been as responsive as we can be in circumstances like this particularly while working with state agencies."
According to the first selectman, the last reported number of confirmed cases since the outbreak is 198. At least 20% of those cases are at the farm, according Bowsza.
The uptick in COVID-19 cases at the farm prompted the first selectman to send East Windsor officers to investigate if state guidelines were being followed.
"We wanted to have an investigation of the scene to make sure public safety guidelines were being followed," said Bowsza. "We know these guidelines were put in place by the governor and we want to do our part to protect the community.
NBC Connecticut received the police report conducted by the East Windsor Police Department. According to the police report, officers questioned the owners of Mulnite Farms about mitigation efforts.
Local
In the report, farm owners told police that some workers did test positive for COVID-19 but they were being separated. The farm also revealed to the police that they hired a cleaning service to come in and disinfect the dorms where workers were living in.
The officer did mention that he did see some proper social distancing during his visit.
Hannah Thibodeau and her family live down the street from the farm and found the uptick in positive cases in East Windsor alarming.
"It's very scary and I had no idea," said Thibodeau. "They're in our community spreading this and we had no idea."
Thibodeau is a teacher and plans to be cautious now that there could be a potential of more cases being announced.
"It's very alarming and we're talking about the safety of our kids and the entire community itself," said Thibodeau.
The first selectman is urging the public to follow state guidelines to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
"We're encouraging local businesses to make sure that they're adhering to those cleaning practices that will we all know at this point in time, we need to be following," said Bowsza.
