The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
CT coronavirus deaths hit 189, surpassing worst flu season
Gov. Ned Lamont announced 24 new deaths associated with the coronavirus on Sunday, raising the state’s death toll to 189 and surpassing the number killed by the worst flu season on record.
The state saw 399 more people test positive for COVID-19, increasing the total number of cases to 5,675 as of Sunday afternoon.
The death toll surpasses the 2017-18 flu season, when there were 184 Connecticut flu-related deaths.
On Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported daily deaths in his state decreased, though he tempered optimism by saying it was “too early to tell” if the state had reached its peak. New York has seen nearly 4,200 people die since the outbreak began, according to the Associated Press.
The news comes as states are preparing this week for what is expected
to be the peak of the virus’ strain on resources, according to projections by the researchers at the University of Washington.
On Sunday, Surgeon General Jerome said the week could be the “hardest and saddest” in Americans’ lives, likening it to both the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
As of Saturday, 109 additional people were hospitalized in Connecticut, bringing the total up to 1,142, according to the governor’s office. An additional 1,241 people have been tested for the virus, for a total of 23,270.
Connecticut is still lagging behind neighboring states, including New York, that have tested higher percentages of their populations.
Fairfield County continued to see the largest number of COVID-19 cases, with a total of 3,050 as of Sunday. New Haven County
trailed with 1,162 cases, followed by Hartford County with 751.
The virus has struck hard in Fairfield County cities, with 652 cases alone reported in Stamford, but smaller towns have also been affected.
In Ridgefield, there were two more deaths, raising the town death toll to 12. Of those, 10 were residents of an assisted living facility near the Danbury border.
Only 14 municipalities in the state have had zero confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to the governor’s office.
In an executive order, Lamont provided protection against lawsuits for health care workers, including nursing homes and field hospitals, for “acts or omissions undertaken in good faith in support of the state’s COVID-19 response.”
The governor’s office noted similar protections exist for first responders, including police, fire and EMS personnel.
The order also prevents health insurance companies from charging their clients more for out-ofnetwork emergency services, and prevents hospitals from charging uninsured patients more than Medicare would for their COVID-19 treatment.
The governor’s office said more than 3,500 additional people have signed up for health insurance through Access Health Connecticut, the state’s health insurance portal created under the Affordable Care Act.
The state created a special enrollment period that runs through April 17 for uninsured residents to sign up for health insurance.
More than 15,000 Connecticut residents have signed up for HUSKY benefits during the same time period, the governor’s office said.