COVID-19 Updates 6/26

June 26, 2020

I hope you are continuing to stay strong because we will get through this together. Here is the latest on COVID-19 data, resources, and words of encouragement from local, national, and world leaders.

Local and National Data Updates
(Latest Data as of 4:00 PM on Friday, June 26, 2020)
 
  Confirmed Cases    Deaths    Tests Completed
Worldwide 9.8 Million 495,404  
U.S. 2.54 Million 127,349 31.2 Million
Connecticut   46,059 4,307 414,889
Waterbury 1,997 168  

For several additional charts and tables containing more data groups, including a town-by-town breakdown of positive cases in each municipality and a breakdown of cases and deaths among age groups, click here.

Positivity for the Future

“As COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, we in Connecticut and the Tri-State area are seeing the COVID prevention measures that we took early on in the pandemic paying off now. But despite our successes so far, we must continue wearing protective masks, socially distancing ourselves from others, and washing our hands, even while our state continues with the reopening process. The new Tri-State Travel Advisory that went into effect this week is meant to keep us safe and prevent new outbreaks from occurring because of out-of-state travelers, so please avoid travelling to impacted states and urge any travelers from these states to observe the 14-day quarantine." - State Rep. Geraldo Reyes

“Plan A, don’t go in a crowd. Plan B, if you do, make sure you wear a mask.”- Dr. Fauci

On Wednesday I joined the Lieutenant Governor, Rep. Cummings,  Exec. Director of Early Childhood Alliance Merrill Gay, Child Development Director of Waterbury YMCA Kristen Jones to underscore importance of counting every child during the 2020 census.

Though the state and Waterbury are performing well in terms of overall responsiveness, the same cannot be said for the state's hard-to-count areas, which so far are responding even less than they did in 2010.

Latino children are among the most under-counted populations in the U.S. More than 56.5 million Latinos live in the U.S., and roughly one in three live in hard-to-count census tracts. This hits our community hard because according to the 2010 Census, Hispanic or Latino residents accounted for 31.2% of the Waterbury population; 20.1% Black or African American.

For every child under-counted, the state will lose funding for health insurance, hospital programs, childcare and early childhood development. Count EVERYONE and fill out the census online.

Back to School

Governor Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona yesterday announced details of the framework to allow all students – in all school districts statewide – the opportunity to have access to in-school, full-time instruction at the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year, as long as public health data continues to support this model. While Connecticut has determined reopening schools for in-person instruction can be achieved based upon the state’s successful COVID-19 containment efforts, this model will be supported with more intensive mitigation strategies and specific monitoring, containment, and class cancellation plans.


 
Framework for Connecticut Schools During the 2020-21 Academic Year

Guiding Principles

As Connecticut schools plan to reopen, the guidance and considerations outlined in this framework are grounded in six guiding principles:

  1. Safeguarding the health and safety of students and staff;
  2. Allowing all students the opportunity to return into the classrooms full time starting in the fall;
  3. Monitoring the school populations and, when necessary, potentially cancelling classes in the future to appropriately contain COVID-19 spread;
  4. Emphasizing equity, access, and support to the students and communities who are emerging from this historic disruption;
  5. Fostering strong two-way communication with partners such as families, educators and staff; and
  6. Factoring into decisions about reopening the challenges to the physical safety and social-emotional well-being of our students when they are not in school.

These guiding principles require all districts to develop their plans with a certain level of consistency, however they retain wide discretion in implementing approaches to reopening given unique local considerations. School districts must balance their planning with contingency plans to provide robust, blended learning or remote learning for all grades in the event that a school, district, or region has to cancel or limit in-person classes due to health precautions.

Main Operational Considerations

Cohorting

  • Districts should emphasize grouping students by the same class/group of students and teacher (into a cohort) so each team functions independently as much as possible. Consider this methodology by grade levels.
  • Placing students in cohorts is strongly encouraged for grades K-8, and encouraged where feasible for grades 9-12.

Social Distancing and Facilities

  • Review building space and reconfigure available classroom space, such as gymnasiums and auditoriums, to maximize social distancing, consistent with public health guidelines in place at that time.

Transportation

  • Districts should plan for buses to operate close to capacity with heightened health and safety protocols, including requiring all students and operators wear face coverings.
  • Plans must be developed to activate increased social distancing protocols based upon community spread.

Face Coverings

  • All staff and students will be expected to wear a protective face covering or face mask that completely covers the nose and mouth when inside the school building, except for certain exceptions including when teachers are providing instruction.

Ensuring Equity and Access

  • Equitable access to education is a top priority that supports a full-time in-school model by mitigating any barriers to education or opportunity gaps that increased during the pandemic. Efforts to support equity, close the opportunity gap, and provide a wide range of support for students in the state is best achieved with in-person schooling opportunities for all ages.
  • Districts should identify gaps and develop action plans for reopening that specifically address inclusion, equity, and access for all learners with strategies and clearly defined action steps.
DMV Reopening

The DMV has developed a reopening plan. New drivers and drivers looking to register a new vehicle will be allowed to start making appointments at select DMV branches. In addition, road testing has also resumed. Safety precautions and screening processes have been put into place to protect both DMV workers and customers.
 
For more information or to set up an appointment, please click here.

Tri-State Travel Advisory

Because of the new daily cases increasing in several states, Governor Lamont along with New York, and New Jersey governors, announced a joint incoming travel advisory that all individuals traveling from states with significant spread of COVID-19 self-quarantine for a 14-day period. Currently, the list of states includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
 
This measure will use uniform parameters and messaging on highways, airports, websites and social media across the three states, in an effort to protect our residents and maintain our progress.
 
The three states will also ask hotels to communicate the 14-day quarantine to guests who have traveled from one of the impacted states.
 
The list of states to which the new advisory applies will be continually updated
here.

Connecticut was recently ranked one of the top 5 most innovative states, according to the Bloomberg index. The ranking is based on six equally weighted metrics: research and development intensity, productivity, clusters of companies in technology, STEM jobs, residents with degrees in science and engineering disciplines, and patent activity. Even through these challenging times, our state continues to lead the way!
 
To read  more, please click
here.