Geraldo Reyes Jr

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.

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

“Friends the first wave has never ended, Connecticut has trended well simply because people have been adhering to and following the norms required. Don’t let your guard down and/or allow yourself and your family to be affected by this virus, stay vigilant!” - 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

• Voting Rights: For communities of color especially, voting is a hard-fought fundamental right. As COVID-19 has taken thousands of lives in Connecticut, no one should have to risk their health and well-being to exercise their Constitutional right during any primary in August or during the general election in November. Every necessary accommodation must be made so that every resident has access to a ballot, including absentee and distance voting.
• Police Accountability: Notions of public safety shouldn't have different meanings depending on to whom you speak or where you come from. We must end broken windows policing; expand the power of community oversight; and implement statewide independent investigations and prosecutions of police misconduct to allow for the just punishment of officers who break the law.
• Economic Justice: True economic justice cannot be achieved until we end the criminalization of poverty and level the playing field. That means providing a workers compensation presumption, sick pay and increased access to PPE for those on the frontlines of the pandemic and commit to continued financial relief efforts for those most vulnerable. It also means that we provide sustainable supports to communities of color throughout this state.
• Housing Equity: Home ownership is the foundation of wealth building. We must expand no-strings-attached homeownership opportunities for families in the communities in which they live. We must hold municipalities accountable if they continue to enact and enforce segregationist practices.
• Education Equity: Access to technology is a necessity in the 21st century and not a luxury. So the state needs to address the digital divide and ensure that every child in a public school has a device and access to the internet. The state also must implement strong literacy solutions to close the reading gap; invest in students based on their need and give them the resources they need to success; and create the Opportunity Gap Taskforce that allows for a cross sector approach to come up with innovation solutions to close the opportunity gap and address greeter disparities caused by COVID-19. 
• Environmental Justice: Environmental justice is racial justice. We must update existing environmental laws to account for their civil rights impacts. There are vast public health-related environmental inequalities that plague our lower income communities. Accountability measures such as this are increasingly necessary at a time when individuals with underlying health conditions, attributed to poor air quality and the prevalence of industrial pollution, are more susceptible to the detrimental effects of COVID-19.