Rouse is optimistic about the pandemic’s future as community spread slows
WESTFIELD- The Health Department reported 19 new COVID-19 cases this week to bring the pandemic total to 3079.
As of the May 19 report there were 19 people in isolation with active cases. For the seventh week in a row, no COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Westfield, keeping the pandemic total for deaths at 110.
Health Director Joseph Rouse was optimistic about the trajectory of the pandemic even though Westfield’s weekly infection rate increased by one from last week. He said that the fact that the number of active cases matched the number of new cases is a good sign that the disease is not spreading as readily through Westfield as it has in the past.
Throughout the pandemic, the number of active cases has typically been higher than the number of new cases in a given week.
“Our numbers in Westfield are holding steady. Even though there are still cases we are getting in, it obviously isn’t spreading beyond that,” said Rouse.
As of the May 20 Department of Public Health report on vaccine distribution in individual municipalities, 18,872 Westfield residents, or 45 percent of the city’s population, had received at least one dose of any of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The same report said that 13,917 residents are considered fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 32 percent of Westfield residents are fully vaccinated.
The May 20 report has an incomplete picture of how many residents aged 12 to 15 have received their vaccines. Children in that age group were only approved to receive the Pfizer vaccine on May 10.
