State cases up; 3 more dead
Lamont announces 104 new positive tests; third local infected is Montville resident
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Sunday night that over the past day, 104 more Connecticut residents have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 327.
Lamont said eight state residents have now died from the coronavirus and 51 people have been hospitalized. One of those hospitalized was from southeastern Connecticut, where there have now been three confirmed cases, in East Lyme, Norwich and most recently, Montville. In addition, Lamont said 3,600 people have been tested at state and private labs.
The majority of confirmed cases, 208, have been in Fairfield County.
The three new deaths included a man who was living in a Stafford Springs nursing home and two women, one from Rocky Hill and one from New Canaan. All three victims were in their 80s and had been recently hospitalized.
Lamont’s office also issued his 11th executive order related to the virus Sunday night. It took the following actions:
Allows non-essential retailers to take orders remotely and sell products for curbside pickup and delivery, and allows other nonessential businesses to allow the minimum staff necessary on site to handle security, maintenance, mail, and other essential services; extends the time period for fire service personnel examinations; allows the delivery of methadone to homebound patients who a medical professional determines are unable to travel to the treatment facility because of COVID-19 by methadone maintenance clinics; suspends rehiring procedures and restrictions on temporary worker retirees and suspends certain real property and state contracting statutes to expedite obtaining appropriate
locations for emergency operations.
“I know this pandemic has brought disruption to all of our lives, but we need to pull together as a community and practice social distancing in order to reduce the spread of this virus and protect the wellbeing of our neighbors and our loved ones,” Lamont said. “We can’t ignore the facts, which prove that efforts like this are the best way to slow down its impact. I cannot say it enough — if you can, the best thing to do is to stay safe and stay home.”
Meanwhile, the state Department of Economic and Community Development release guidelines Sunday night for Connecticut businesses as Lamont directs all nonessential, in-person business functions to close Monday at 8 p.m. To help businesses, DECD has established the COVID-19 Business Emergency Response Unit reachable at 860-5002333.
The guidelines can be found at https://bit.ly/CTCVbiz.
“We are working around the clock to support our Connecticut businesses during these extremely difficult times,” DECD Commissioner David Lehman said. “Our primary goal was to support our public health objective while balancing the important needs of our citizens and the Connecticut economy. I encourage residents and business to review the guidance carefully and apply for a waiver only if they deem necessary. DECD will also be launching more assistance for small and medium businesses who are impacted by COVID19 in the coming days.”
On Sunday afternoon, Lamont used the state’s CTAlert system today to send a recorded message to more than 4 million phone numbers across Connecticut urging residents to “Stay Safe, Stay Home” in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Emergency Operations Center in Hartford sent out the messages. Text messages were also sent to cellphones with a link to the state’s coronavirus website, ct.gov/coronavirus.
Lamont is the first governor in Connecticut history to use the CTAlert system for a statewide phone call. Residents can sign up for CTAlert at www.ctalert.gov.
Lamont’s phone message was as follows:
“This is Governor Ned Lamont. I’m calling to urge you personally: Stay safe, stay home. I’m not ordering you to stay home, I’m strongly urging you to stay home to make sure that you and your neighbors are much less likely to be infected by the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.
If you must head out to the grocery store, or pharmacy, pick up takeout from your favorite restaurant, that’s fine. I’ll be taking a long walk with Annie to get some fresh air, but remember to keep your distance from passersby. Seventy years or older? Stay home.
And for those of you who can work from home, that’s best, but check with your boss first. For the latest updates, follow me on Twitter or Facebook. We will get through this crisis by working together.”