In her nightly update to residents on the COVID-pandemic response, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice brought up the topic of Thanksgiving. Knowing that one of the primary ways that the virus has been spreading is through family gatherings, she made some suggestions about how to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. For many people, those suggestions are very different than how they would typically mark the occasion.

Vanderslice explained that both the Center for Disease Controls (CDC) and the CT Department of Public Health strongly recommend residents stay home and limit Thanksgiving celebrations to household members–that means much smaller gatherings.

With the sharp spike in cases statewide, gatherings are now required by the state to be much smaller. Last week, the CT Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) set a limit of 10 for residential gatherings.

Vanderslice noted, “If you do plan to celebrate with others, the CDC offers a number of suggestions as to how to do so in a safer manner.” She listed key examples:

  • Dine outside.
  • If you can’t dine outside, dine indoors with the windows open.
  • Maintain 6 feet of distance. One way to accomplish this is separate tables for each household.
  • Explain expectations to household members and guests prior to the day of the gathering.
  • Wear a mask when not eating or drinking.

She also acknowledged that travel is typically a part of the Thanksgiving holiday for many people.

“If you or a household member are traveling over the holiday, please review the travel advisory to understand quarantine, testing and reporting requirements. Also please remember, although New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island are exempt from the affected list, all three states and CT, are discouraging travel between the four states,” she wrote.

Knowing that many families will have a college student returning home, she included information regarding testing.

“Demand for testing is expected to be high during the second half of this month as college students return from affected states and others travel to and from affected states for Thanksgiving. Information on testing locations, including type of testing and hours, is available on this link, which is also found on the Coronavirus page of the Town’s website. Please review the travel advisory if you have a household member who is traveling.”

Vanderslice also reported one new case in Wilton, and provided an update on more detailed information received by the health department regarding five recent cases: “The ages of those received ranged from 11 to 94. They included an additional exposure through a moderate risk sport held indoors, without a mask and outside of Wilton and exposure at a Wilton assisted living facility.”

The other data included in Vanderslice’s Wednesday update (from Nov. 10):

  • Wilton:  1 new case reported.  355 cases YTD.
  • Statewide: 1,754 new cases. 4.76% of new tests reported were positive.  84,741 cases YTD.
  • Fairfield County:  553 new cases.  28,178 cases YTD.
  • Hospitalized Patients: Statewide, 584 with a 36-net patient increase. Fairfield County, 156, with a 1-net patient increase.
  • Deaths: Statewide, 9.  Fairfield County, 0.  Wilton, 0.