Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu was a panelist on Gov. Lamont’s Covid update broadcast Thursday, when she provided listeners with information about the spread of the virus here.

She affirmed the importance of following the rules and said that communication from the governor’s office has been excellent.

“I can tell you here in Bristol that since September we have had 342 students miss school because of Covid exposure related to club and youth sports activities,” Zoppo-Sassu said in reference to the delay of winter sports on the live stream that has been appearing daily at 4 p.m.

The rules that are now in place are making a difference, she said.

Sports, as well as bar and restaurant use and family gatherings are the leading indicators that have been discovered through contact tracing as the major causes of Covid spread, the mayor said.

She stressed that the enforcement of the existing rules are critical to keeping schools, businesses, and restaurants open.

“Everyone playing by the rules is the only way all of this succeeds,” she said.

Regarding how communication between the state and local governments is working, Bristol has “no complaints,” she said, and rated the level of communication as excellent.

The governor’s office, as well as state agencies like the Department of Public Health and the Education Department, have set up several ways to let local towns and cities know what is coming in the days ahead. That has allowed a city like Bristol to continue its operations without a hitch.

The city itself communicates daily within departments, with the Bristol-Burlington Health District, and with our surrounding towns, so that everyone is in the know as to what is happening in the area.