East Hartford Identified as Red Level Alert-Community Asked to Remain Vigilant
(October 23, 2020) East Hartford, CT—Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Public Health (DPH) alerted East Hartford town officials of our community designation of red level alert. Red level alert is for municipalities that have a two-week average daily COVID-19 case rate higher than 15 per 100,000 population.According to the DPH’s town-level COVID response framework, municipalities under red level alert designation can decide to revert from phase 3 back to phase 2, which entails rolling back business indoor capacity and private and public, indoor and outdoor gathering limits. You can read more about each phase on the DPH’s website here.
East Hartford has seen a week over week increase in COVID positive cases. This week we have had 50 new cases reported.
This morning, on October 23, 2020, Mayor Marcia Leclerc called a meeting of the town’s Unified Command staff which includes key Directors, the Health Department, Police, Fire and the Superintendent of Schools, to determine East Hartford’s response to the state’s community designation and to discuss the state’s requirement to determine which phase East Hartford will adopt. An examination of all data across departments concluded unanimously that East Hartford will not be reverting back to phase 2, but will remain in phase 3, while continuing to closely monitor our COVID transmission data.
“Our community has done a great job at minimizing the impact of the virus on our residents and businesses who have willingly and diligently complied with safety measures that have been in place since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Mayor Marcia Leclerc. “Our numbers today are similar to those we experienced in June and based on our public health data and contact tracing statistics, we will not revert back to phase 2, and will remain in phase 3. However, the red level alert designation serves as a strong reminder that we should not let our guard down.”
Similar to the state and national trend, we’ve been experiencing an increase in community spread and our public health data, identified through contact tracing, showed private family-friends gatherings as a contributing factor to the rise in East Hartford’s positive cases. We understand how difficult it can be to socially distance, quarantine and isolate from close family members and friends. However, we must remain vigilant and continue to comply with social distancing safety measures. Please remember, that you could be infected with COVID while remaining asymptomatic. Please limit your social circles to immediate family members in your household to help us mitigate the spread of the disease.
In addition to always wearing face masks, it is imperative that you wash your hands, avoid social gatherings, socially distance and get tested regularly. The Town of East Hartford has been working with community partners to offer accessible testing to all residents. We will continue our partnerships to increase public testing capability to help further mitigate the spread.
There are several testing sites available in town:
- CHC Drive through testing at Rentschler Field, 615 Silver Lane, Tuesday, Thursday Friday; 8:30-12:30 PM
- InterCommunity, 281 Main Street; Wednesday & Friday; 9 AM-3PM
- First Choice Health Center Mobil Unit, East Hartford Town Hall, 740 Main Street, Tuesdays October 27th, 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM and beginning, November 3rd Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM through the month of November
- First Choice Mobil Unit, East Hartford Library parking lot, 840 Main Street, 9 AM-1 PM.
- Click Here complete list of testing sites. Additional sites will be announced and expanded hours as they become available.
Please continue to monitor the town's COVID Webpage and social media for testing sites and additional resources.