North Branford town and school officials continue to ask residents to be vigilant and follow COVID-19 safety protocols as the town wrestles with a critical COVID-19 positivity rate that's now among one of the area's highest.

North Branford was first identified as a 'red' critical town by CT Dept. of Public Health (DPH) reporting metrics on Nov. 6, due to a 16.6 positivity rate. The rate accounts for positive cases in tests made over a 14-day period, adjusted for a population of 100,000. As of Nov. 13, statewide updates shared by DPH showed North Branford's positivity rate had climbed to 20.2.

"That is the wrong trajectory," said Town Manager Michael Paulhus. "When you look at surrounding communities in general, we're trending above them."

Paulhus made the comments on Friday, Nov. 13 when he was joined by Superintendent of Schools Scott Schoonmaker and East Shore District Health (ESDHD) Director Michael Pascucilla on a Facebook Live video/Zoom meeting update broadcast to community members. The broadcast was shared on the Town of North Branford Facebook page. Schoonmaker joined the broadcast via phone.

Paulhus said the goal of the broadcast was to provide community residents with a reliable update on COVID-19 numbers and to report on the latest impacts and efforts being made in town and in schools, well as to discuss the ways residents can help to "...tamp down these numbers."

"Since this started for North Branford, we are now at 182 positive cases in our small town alone," said Paulhus. "The last 3 or 4 weeks have really kind of heated up. The numbers are changing every week and we're not out of woods yet."

Pascucilla said a good portion of the town's 182 cases have come in during the last month and that North Branford's 20.2 positivity rate is "significant."

"Part of that is when you have a number of cases and a small population [but] even when you adjust for the 100,00 mark, that's significant," said Pascucilla.

He said that while North Branford's emergency service agencies, town government offices and the school district have been vigilant with regard to implementing COVID-19 protocols and safety precautions, as well as putting out announcements and sharing information with meetings, "...I have to be honest, we're at a point where we need help. We can't do it alone."

Pascucilla urged residents to be sure to follow all COVID-19 safety guidelines, at all times, including proper social distancing, wearing a face mask and using hand cleaning hygiene. He said residents gathering without following proper protocols will continue to facilitate the increase of COVID-19 positivity in town. He especially implored residents to reconsider any plans to attend or host large gatherings for Thanksgiving.

"We're not saying we can't have Thanksgiving together," said Pascucilla. "If you do have small gatherings, make sure you follow protocols. Social distancing is really important. We also need to make sure we're wearing our face coverings. That is critical."

Residents are also being reminded, if they're gathering, to have no more than 10 people, by Executive Order of Gov. Lamont.

Update on Schools

Pascucilla said extra efforts are being made to monitor school buildings and work closely with school officials not only in North Branford, but in all towns served by ESDHD (which also serves Branford and East Haven).

"Our schools, from a public health standpoint, from our community standpoint, are by far hands down one of the most important things we are focusing on," said Pascucilla. "We're working together and we are going to keep our schools open. They are safe. We have track and trace and polices in place [and] yes, we've had some cases. When we do, we know in hour or so who to put in isolation, who to put in quarantine, and we have strong restrictions in place to keep our schools safe."

Schoonmaker said the North Branford Public School (NBPS) district remains vigilant in taking swift action to implement all protocols and practices to keep schools safe and open for live, in-person learning at all buildings (the district also offers optional remote learning). Since school buildings opened on Sept. 8 through to Nov. 13, 8 staff members have tested positive and 16 students, said Schoonmaker.

He said that total student number is a low percentage among the total number of cases in town (making up about 8.8 percent of the total).

"So the spread of virus is happening after [school] hours, at events and gatherings where people aren't being cautious," said Schoonmaker. "That's our frustration. We're just trying to [keep] the doors open. We just need cooperation [and] we're continuing to implore our communities to follow those safeguards."

He also noted NBPS secondary students (middle school and high school) experienced an "uptick" in positive cases following Halloween parties and trick-or-treating events outside of school in late October.

Schoonmaker said the greatest challenge facing NBPS right now is keeping staffing levels at the proper level for student learning due to the districts' protocol, based on time frame and distance, for a 14-day "quarantine mode" when a positive case is identified among the school community.

As the community heads into the holidays, Schoonmaker also made a pitch to residents to be responsible in following COVID-19 safety guidelines that can help keep everyone safe.

"Heading into Thanksgiving and Christmas season, we know that these are going to be times when there's going to be gatherings, there's going to be travel," said Schoonmaker, adding, for school families, "...if you do travel and come back, you know we offer remote opportunities for your children" allowing them to stay home prior to testing or quarantine for 14 days.

Above all, Schoonmaker said the district will do its best to keep offering in-person learning at school buildings.

"The Commissioner of Education and Department of Public Health offered a letter to all superintendents last week encouraging us to stay with live teaching [and] did not encourage all superintendents and schools to go into closures during the holiday," said Schoonmaker. 

He said part of the state education and public health officials' insight into the effort to keep school buildings open is to ensure a balancing of "social emotional well-being in our children." Schoonmaker said the state is experiencing upticks in alcohol and drug use, the number of drop outs and, sadly, suicides in high school students in CT. 

He added that NBPS will continue to work with experts to keep the towns' schools safely open while monitoring evolving conditions and will keep parents informed.

"We want to be as transparent as we possibly can in working with health experts to provide a safe learning environment where children are together with staff. It's on a day to day basis," said Schoonmaker.

He also asked the community to do its part to help tackle the town's rising positivity number and keep schools safe.

"We're continuing to be vigilant in our efforts to keep those mitigation strategies in place as best we can, and ask the community to assist us," said Schoonmaker.