SOUTHWICK- The sharp rise in the number of weekly COVID-19 infections in Southwick cannot be attributed to any particular cluster, but rather a somewhat consistent spread throughout the town.
Southwick Health Director Tammy Spencer said Monday morning that the 31 new cases reported last week were mostly spread across different households, rather than being concentrated among a single population.
Spencer said there were a handful of cases that were confirmed among people in Southwick’s regional schools, but little to no spread of the virus has occurred from those cases so far.
“It is a very consistent influx of new cases every day,” said Spencer.
She said that a possible explanation for the sudden spike in confirmed cases in the town is that there has been an increase in the number of administered COVID-19 tests. Over the previous 14 days from when the 31 new cases were reported, Southwick conducted 728 COVID-19 tests.
“I’m glad that the number of tests are going up,” said Spencer.
To date in Southwick, there have been four deaths attributed to COVID-19. Spencer was unable to confirm the severity of symptoms being experienced by the infected. She did say that the average age of those who are confirmed to be infected is trending much lower than when the initial wave of COVID-19 hit in April and May.
While there are no clusters yet to speak of in Southwick, the 31 new confirmed cases represents the highest weekly increase in cases in the town since the beginning of the pandemic in the spring. Despite this, Spencer said, the percent positivity rate in the town remains below 3 percent.
