covid-19 in cheshire: Chesprocott health district director esposito cautiously optimistic moving forward

By Dan Nowak
CDTC Communication staff

CHESHIRE—Chesprocott Health District director Maura Esposito continues to be cautiously optimistic when it comes to the COVID-19 virus in Cheshire, the state and nation and she offers some words of encouragement. 

“In Cheshire, we’re doing okay,” Esposito said. “We’re doing much, much better now because people are staying home. Social distancing and working from home, it’s all working. My job tends to take me out on the road and these days when I’m driving on Route 10 it’s just me and members of the police department driving around. And that’s a good thing because it shows people in Cheshire are taking this seriously and staying home. 

“I’m optimistic but I am cautiously optimistic because it’s still a wait and see situation with this virus.” 

The cases continue to grow in Cheshire going to 38 confirmed cases on Wednesday with three people hospitalized compared to 23 confirmed cases on April 2. Esposito said the hardest hit age group in Cheshire is the 31-40 year old age group with the highest number of cases with nine. The next highest number of cases in Cheshire is seven in the 61-70 age group. 

Esposito also said most of the COVID-19 cases in Cheshire are people in the health care industry including nurses who work in rehab facilities and nursing homes.

“Tuesday was a slow day for cases in Cheshire for some reason,” Esposito said. “But that doesn’t really mean much because we have a lot of people being tested. The difference now compared to a couple weeks ago is the quick reporting we are getting when people are tested. St. Mary’s Hospital has been excellent in reporting numbers quickly to us for the three towns we cover."

Chesprocott Health District covers Cheshire, Prospect and Wolcott.

“I see a lot of people, more people than usual, walking on sidewalks and around their neighborhoods,” Esposito said. That’s good because people should get out and get some fresh air, as long they practice social distancing. I’ve been encouraged because when I see a lot of these people walking around they are 8-10 feet apart when they talk to each other.

“I also see a lot of people walking around town with masks and that is good. But the only thing I ask is that people don’t use 0he N95 masks and surgical masks that our health providers need to do their work. Make a homemade cloth mask or use a scarf or bandana. Be creative and wear a turtleneck shirt."

​On Tuesday, Chesprocott donated several boxes of masks to the correctional facility in Cheshire to help with their supply. Esposito said we will likely be dealing with the virus for a while.

“We likely have more COVID-19 cases in town than the confirmed cases reported,” Esposito said. “If people have symptoms of the virus, have no underlying issues and are doing okay, they are asked to stay home and aren’t being asked to be tested. 
“But we can still expect to have many more confirmed cases. The thing is, the numbers continue to fluctuate and go up a little one day and down a little the next day. It’s still inconsistent. We are still in a wait-and-see situation with this virus. We still need to stay home and do social distancing until we see that curve stay flat.”

For more information, go to http://www.chesprocott.org/