Birthday party, summer camp and Provincetown travelers led to recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Connecticut, health officials say
As Connecticut’s COVID-19 test positivity rate continues to increase amid spread of the delta variant, the state Department of Public Health, which identified a few recent coronavirus outbreaks across the state, including cases linked to a cluster in Provincetown, Massachusetts, is urging residents to be mindful of social gatherings.
The DPH said that three social occasions, including a birthday party, a summer camp and the travelers from Massachusetts, have exposed at least 140 people to COVID-19.
“A birthday party took place in June with about 50 attendees, resulting in 16 COVID-19 cases in the subsequent week. The birthday party started outdoors and then moved indoors,” a news release from the department said. “Unvaccinated attendees at this party were four times as likely to test positive than those who were vaccinated, with a total of six cases among 33 fully or partially vaccinated attendees and 10 cases among 13 unvaccinated attendees. Four cases were hospitalized as a result.”
The summer camp that DPH looked into experienced an outbreak last month, exposing around 70 individuals, including 50 campers, to the virus. Thirteen cases were recorded among campers who were between the ages of 11 and 14, with unknown vaccination statuses. None of the staff, all of whom were vaccinated, contracted COVID-19.
Another outbreak the DPH noted was regarding 28 residents who tested positive for coronavirus after traveling between Connecticut and Provincetown, Massachusetts, or interacted with those who had. The town experienced hundreds of breakthrough COVID-19 infections last month in an outbreak that helped drive the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation for indoor mask wearing regardless of vaccination status. More than 93%, or 26 of the Connecticut 28 residents whose infections were linked to the Provincetown cases, were vaccinated. None of them were hospitalized.
“Vaccination remains the most important defense against illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. So-called ‘vaccine breakthrough’ cases have occurred in Connecticut, but they remain rare,” the department said. “Most hospitalizations and deaths in Connecticut and around the country are in unvaccinated individuals. DPH strongly recommends that unvaccinated individuals get vaccinated as soon as possible to help stop the ongoing spread of the Delta variant.”
The department said that gatherings between those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated should remain outdoors, and indoor gatherings should include masks.
The reminder came a day after the entire state of Connecticut reached levels of substantial COVID-19 transmission, according to the CDC, with Litchfield County joining the state’s seven other counties posting elevated levels of transmission.
Jessika Harkay can be reached at jharkay@courant.com.
