Maria Horn

With the election only a few days away, I was reflecting on how many weekly videos and newsletters I’ve done over the course of the last two years.  After figuring in that the frequency of the newsletters went up to three times a week for a while, my unscientific conclusion was: a lot.  They’ve been a reliable way for me to communicate information to you that I hope is timely, accurate, and helpful.  They also don’t require you to wade into a social media environment that can  be divisive and anxiety-producing, particularly at this time of year. I welcome all of your suggestions on how to adapt them in the future.

Before this year, the newsletter focused on a host of recent and upcoming events both in the district and in Hartford, making connections to legislative policy.  In the last several months, one big event has dominated as we battled the pandemic and its impact on our public and economic health.  Now another big event is upon us: the election on November 3.  If you plan to vote by absentee ballot (and haven’t already done so), please make use of the drop box that can be found outside of every town or city hall. If you plan to vote in person on November 3, please note that the usual polling locations in Cornwall, Goshen, and Sharon have changed this year: all three of these towns will hold the election at their elementary schools.  

Whether in person or by absentee ballot, please make a plan to vote.  Your country, your state, and your community need to hear your voice. 
 
I wish you all a Happy Halloween, including some safe scary fun with your family.  Many of our towns have amended the usual holiday plans this year, so please check town websites for up to date information on how to celebrate safely this year. 
 
Here’s one event in Torrington I’m planning to make – maybe I’ll see you there!

Here’s a list of today’s topics:

• Governor Lamont signs Executive Order No. 9I re travel advisory modifications.
• Governor Lamont signs Executive Order No. 9J re allowing towns to revert to Phase 2, and early election preparation.
• Weekly update of the Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Alert Map. 
• Dashboard for public reporting of COVID-19 school cases launched on Connecticut Open Data Portal.
• Weekly update to the regional travel advisory: California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania added to list; Rhode Island and New Jersey meet metrics but will not be included.
• Access Health opens enrollment. 
• Housatonic Valley FFA to host Farmers to Families Food Box  Distribution on Saturday, October 31. 
• Temporary Rental Housing Assistance Program relaunched.
• Wamogo Regional High School will move to fully remote learning starting tomorrow, October 30.

For several additional graphs and tables containing more data, including a list of cases in every municipality, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “COVID-19 Data Tracker.”
 
NOTE: The weekly update on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes and assisted living facilities is typically prepared on Thursday evening, but was not available yet tonight.  I will plan to send that out tomorrow, or whenever it does become available
 
Governor Lamont signs Executive Order No. 9I enacting the following provisions :

• Amendments to mandatory self-quarantine for travelers from states with high COVID-19 levels: Makes slight revisions to the previously enacted travel advisory, most notably the creation of an exemption for the nearby states of New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island from appearing on the list of affected states from which travelers are required to self-quarantine.

Governor Lamont signs Executive Order No. 9J enacting the following provisions:

• Municipal authority to revert to more restrictive pre-October 8, 2020 size and capacity limitations and rules for certain businesses and gatherings: Makes several modifications to the previously enacted order that allows municipalities to revert to Phase 2. Under this order, municipalities that are in the orange level of the state’s weekly COVID-19 Alert Map will also have the option of reverting to Phase 2, in addition to the red level municipalities, as previously ordered. In addition, there is no longer a deadline for municipalities to decide whether they want to revert to Phase 2. Effective immediately, municipalities can elect to revert to Phase 2 any time that it is categorized within the red or orange levels.
• Modifications to deadlines to allow early preparations for absentee ballot counting: Grants an extension to municipalities that want to pre-process absentee ballots but missed the Saturday deadline for providing notice to the Secretary of the State.

Weekly update of the Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Alert Map
 

The Connecticut Department of Public Health released its weekly COVID-19 Alert Map today, which currently indicates that 30 cities and towns in Connecticut are in the red zone, meaning an average daily COVID-19 case rate over the last two weeks of greater than 15 per 100,000 population.
 
North Canaan is among those towns in the red zone, having reported a total of 10 new cases in the two week period between October 11^th and 24^th.  Please note that all of these cases now being counted by the state have already been reported by us and are related either to Geer Village or North Canaan Elementary School. The "red zone" designation does not mean that there are more new cases. 
 
That said, the designation does mean that it is likely our region will be able to get more testing resources. Several regional healthcare providers are working on this and at least one organization has committed to scheduling a pop-up testing site in the coming days.  The Department of Public Health will be working with North Canaan officials, including Torrington Area Health Department, to provide community resources and help make community-level decisions. As details become available, I will share further information.   
 
I participated in a state call with municipal officials today from all the 30 Connecticut towns that are now designated to be "red zones." After that, I had a call with Region One Interim Superintendent Lisa Carter and North Canaan First Selectman Charlie Perotti. They agreed that this information is not new and they saw no current reason to change any of the operating conditions of either North Canaan Elementary School or the Town of North Canaan generally. They will be drafting a statement to be issued tomorrow. 
 
Please continue to be vigilant about wearing masks, washing hands and keeping social distance. Our thoughts are with our neighbors who have the virus and we wish them a quick recovery, and safety for their families. 
 
The COVID-19 Alert Map is updated every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. and can be found in the Data Tracker page of the state’s coronavirus website at ct.gov/coronavirus.

Dashboard for public reporting of COVID-19 school cases launched on Connecticut Open Data Portal
 
The Connecticut Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the Connecticut State Department of Education, today launched a dashboard for the public reporting of confirmed COVID-19 cases among PK-12 students and staff in all public and private schools. The data tables are searchable by school and will be maintained on the Connecticut Open Data Portal (data.ct.gov). Reported data will be updated weekly every Thursday and will reflect total student and staff cases as well as new cases reported from the previous week.
 
All Connecticut public and private PK-12 schools are required to report any new student or staff person in a school who is identified as having a confirmed positive test result for COVID-19. This includes any staff or students who are working or attending in a fully remote learning model. Districts have been instructed to submit their reports on the same day that their schools are notified or as soon as possible (e.g. if notified on a weekend). In order to balance transparency and the utility of these data with the need to protect individual privacy, suppression rules have been applied to the reporting of school cases. For example, if a school reports 1-5 cases then <6 is displayed in order to de-identify the data. If 6 or more cases are reported then the exact number is displayed. If no cases are reported, 0 cases will be displayed.
 
It should be noted that the experience in Connecticut since reopening began for the 2020-21 academic year indicates that transmission has been a rare event inside of school buildings even in communities with elevated transmission rates. This is likely due to the high-level of planning and compliance with mitigation strategies designed to prevent transmission between individuals.
 

**On the Web: Dashboard on COVID-19 in PK-12 Public and Private Schools

 

 
Weekly update to the regional travel advisory: California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania added to list; Rhode Island and New Jersey meet metrics but will not be included
 
The regional travel advisory between Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York that directs incoming travelers from states with a significant community spread of COVID-19 to self-quarantine for a 14-day period was updated this week.
 
California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania have been added to the list of impacted locations that meet the metrics to qualify.  Please note that, as Massachusetts is a border state (and a close one for those of us in the Northwest Corner), the quarantine requirement does not apply to any Connecticut resident traveling there who stays for fewer than 24 hours.  
 
New Jersey and Rhode Island meet the criteria for the travel advisory, however given the interconnected nature of the region and mode of transport between the states, they are not being included on the list of states required for a mandatory quarantine. That said, Governor Lamont highly discourages, to the extent practical, all nonessential travel to limit the spread of COVID-19.
 
For the most up-to-date information on the regional travel advisory, including an extensive list of frequently asked questions, click here.
 
Access Health Opens Enrollment
 
As many families struggle with the challenges of COVID-19, Access Health has opened enrollment for those with a Qualifying Life Event (QLE) such as the loss of a job and health insurance because of the pandemic.
 
You will be able to make an appointment at one of six enrollment locations or attend a virtual open enrollment fair.  Also, enrollment centers will be located in different communities throughout the state.

Healthy Chats will be held via Zoom (and by phone) on select Wednesdays from 3 – 4 pm and select Thursdays from 6 – 7 pm. There's also a first-ever Spanish Healthy Chats. After a Virtual Healthy Chat you will:

• Know what Access Health CT (AHCT) is and how they can help you
• Understand the types of financial help and coverage options available
• Be prepared for 2021 Open Enrollment and the application process
• Feel empowered to choose a plan and understand the benefits of coverage so you can stay well.
• Click here to learn what is needed to enroll.
• Click here to learn more about available plans.

Open enrollment begins on November 1^st for those that need health insurance but do not have a QLE. Click here for more information.
 
Housatonic Valley FFA to host Farmers to Families Food Box Distribution on Saturday, October 31
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a fourth round of funding for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which has provided boxes of fresh produce for distribution throughout the country. As part of that program, the Housatonic Valley FFA will host a Food Box Distribution at Housatonic Valley Regional High School on Saturday October 31 from 9am to 12pm.

Small Business Administration Capital Loans available to businesses and nonprofits affected by drought
 
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and private nonprofit organizations in Litchfield County, Connecticut as a result of drought that began on Aug. 18, 2020.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm- related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. Except for aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers. Nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.
Applications are due by June 2021.  For more information, click here.
 
Supplement aid to support foster parents during COVID-19 response
Governor Lamont announced that he has approved the allocation of $1 million from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, which utilizes federal CARES Act funding, to provide supplemental aid to foster parents for the extraordinary costs associated with caring for more than 3,600 children in state care during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
 
These efforts are also extended to therapeutic foster care providers who often have children with complex behavioral needs placed into their families. For more information, click here.
 
Anyone in Connecticut who is interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent should contact 1-888-KIDHERO for information.
 
 
Voter Engagement Text Campaign from United Way of Connecticut
 
United Way of Connecticut has launched a Voter Engagement Text Campaign in the final days leading up to the November 3, 2020 General Election. To sign up to receive important, time sensitive information about how to participate in the 2020 General Election, any Connecticut resident can simply text “CTVOTE” to 898211. 
 
Through the Voter Engagement Text Campaign, United Way of Connecticut will provide, to each resident who opts in, information on how to register to vote, how to vote by absentee ballot, and what to do on election day if an eligible voter needs to register or locate their polling location. 

Wamogo Regional High School will move to fully remote learning starting tomorrow, October 30

After learning of another positive COVID-19 test in the community, and the completion of contact tracing with Torrington Area Health District, Region Six Superintendent Chris Leone announced that Wamogo Regional High School would be move to “Phase 3:  Remote Learning” starting on Friday, October 30th, through Friday, November 6th, 2020.  They expect that “Phase 1: In-Person” school will resume on Monday, November 9th, 2020. A letter will be forthcoming to the school community on specifics.

Providing information to Connecticut residents
 
For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, including an FAQ and other guidance and resources, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus.
 

Individuals who have general questions that are not answered on the website can also call 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance. Relay services can be accessed by calling 7-1-1. Anyone who is out-of-state or using Relay can connect to Connecticut 2-1-1 toll free by dialing 1-800-203-1234. The hotline is intended to be used by individuals who are not experiencing symptoms but may have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms is strongly urged to contact their medical provider.