WESTFIELD/SOUTHWICK – The City of Westfield and Town of Southwick both continue to have low numbers of residents with new confirmed COVID-19 cases as the state heads into its first week of Phase 1 of the reopening plan.
Westfield has had 17 new confirmed cases since May 15 for a total of 426. Southwick has had three in the same time period, bringing its total to 53. While both numbers are a slight increase from the previous week, it is not enough to be considered statistically significant.
Westfield Emergency Management Director Jim Wiggs said that his office has not seen a daily case count above three in about two weeks. He said that he is not panicking about the numbers going up again as parts of the state and local economies begin to reopen on May 25.
“I’m not overly concerned (about a spike) if people follow the guidelines. Now that it is warmer as well the virus won’t be as active,” said Wiggs.
He said that as long as people continue to wear masks in public and practice social distancing, that a jump in cases should not happen in the near future. He also cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcement this week that the virus does not spread as easily through surface contact as initially thought.
Though surface spread is unlikely, it is still possible, and Wiggs and the CDC said they still recommend people wash and sanitize their hands as they hopefully have been.
In Southwick, two of the three new cases were from the same household.
