Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs downto the toll the pandemic has taken on preschools in Connecticut. As a result of layoffs, safety concerns and financial losses, many programs for preschoolers have been shuttered in recent months, according to Merrill Gay, executive director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance. Programs that survived are struggling too, and protocols to maintain safety often fuels even more costs. This happens to come at a time when Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, who is poised to become the U.S. Secretary of Education, is prioritizing pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds. For many young children, the last 10 months have offered the worst possible launch to getting acclimated to education.
Thumbs up to a deal with Nuvance Health that is expected to bring 500 jobs to the state. That’s welcome job creation at any time, but never more than during this pandemic. The seven-hospital health system is planning to rent 220,000-square-feet of office space that will fill more than one-third of the Summit building on the west side of Danbury. The space will be used for executive headquarters, back offices, labs and clinical facilities, moving jobs that were previously in New York.
Thumbs downto the continuing victimization of relatives of the Sandy Hook School shootings. Lenny Pozner, the father of a victim of the 2012 shooting, wore a disguise for his interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley on Sunday as he discussed the consequences of cyber-stalking. Pozner said he has been the victim of online harassment from conspiracy theorists who have attempted to disprove the tragedy, and has had to move many times to avoid harassment.
Thumbs up
to $9 million in COVID Relief Fund for the Arts grants being issued to arts organizations across the state. Though the 150 recipients are a fraction of Connecticut’s arts outlets (many nonprofits were not eligible), the funds administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development made an investment to help sustain many struggling organizations.
Thumbs up
to Connecticut outpacing New York in the number of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by population. As of Dec. 28, Connecticut had distributed 1,017 for every 100,000 residents, while New York was at a pace of 720 doses per 100,000 people, according to data from the offices of each state’s governor. It’s not a competition, but the numbers do serve as a reminder that this unprecedented distribution effort won’t be easy.
Thumbs downto
Connecticut’s daily positivity rate for COVID-19 hovering just below 9 percent at year’s end. If there’s a positive spin to the grim numbers, it’s that the percentage dipped slightly from the previous day. But given that 5,000 Connecticut residents died between the start of the pandemic and the end of November, it’s sobering to note that there were at least 1,000 deaths in the month of December alone. As the last day of 2020 passed, only seven municipalities in Connecticut remained out of the “red zone”: Wilton, Salisbury, Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall, Union and Warren.