Newtown will likely surpass 50 positive COVID-19 cases this weekend as Health District Director Donna Culbert logged her 47th resident testing positive for the coronavirus. She is also continuing to monitor three cases in each of the neighboring district towns of Roxbury and Bridgewater.

Culbert and First Selectman Dan Rosenthal stood by the veterans’ memorial mural in a nearly deserted Municipal Center Friday, April 3, touting how community members are coming together to support and help one another, while warning that the surge of cases locally and regionally is still to come.

The videos are being produced in partnership between the Town and The Newtown Bee.

The first selectman also pleaded with residents casually using medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — especially surgical and N95 masks — to leave or donate such equipment to local emergency responders or front line medical workers.

He also pointed out that there are myriad instructional sites on the internet where residents can easily learn to sew their own masks, which could suffice for the uses he is seeing around Newtown.

In other local developments, beginning Tuesday, April 7, Newtown residents will no longer be able to make payments at the Transfer Station. Payments will need to be made in advance either on-line, newtown-ct.gov, or over the phone, 203-270-4307.

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Construction & Demolition WILL NOT be accepted at the Newtown Transfer Station. It can be brought to Oak Ridge’s Mom & Pop Drop off at 307 White Street, Danbury. For hours and information, call 203-744-8260.

View the latest outreach video COVID-19 Clip below:

Meanwhile, in his Friday press update, Governor Ned Lamont reinforced his directives regarding the number of customers being permitted in grocery stores and other retail establishments deemed essential to remain open in an earlier order.

“We’re being a lot more strict in stores and people are honoring that in a serious way,” Lamont said, adding that police are responding to locations apparently not adhering to limiting shoppers.

“If you don’t have to go, don’t, and then just one family member,” the governor said. Speaking to his Thursday Executive Order regarding restrictions on lodging, Lamont affirmed he does not want to see any more “social travel — so much of the virus travels when people travel.”

The governor reminded residents that the first COVID-19 case in Connecticut was just three weeks earlier at Danbury Hospital. And as of April 3, Lamont said the state has logged 909 hospitalizations and 131 dead, 19 since Thursday.

By Friday, a total of 4,914 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Connecticut residents. The increase in cases reported Friday according to the state is related to catch-up of data entry and implementation of a new method for reporting cases to the Department of Public Health.

Fairfield County is now at 2,716 cases and 75 deaths with 891 cases in neighboring New Haven County, which tallied 18 deaths.

Among 216 nursing homes across the state, 48 (22%) have had at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. A total of 221 nursing home residents with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 have been identified of whom 80 (36%) were hospitalized and 23 (10%) have died.

Helping Neighbors, Nursing Homes

Governor Lamont and a large number of state officials and nonprofit providers are urging Connecticut residents to consider taking on a volunteer role in their communities to help respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

While the state already began a campaign seeking out volunteers who have health care experience, Friday the state is launching a campaign seeking volunteers from the general public who are needed for other services at many different types of providers, such as food banks, deliveries to the elderly, shelters, and more.

The governor stressed that the COVID-19 outbreak is having a wide-ranging impact, and that means a large amount of skill sets are required to ensure that every community in Connecticut has the resources they need to combat this pandemic.

“Our front line providers at food banks, meal delivery services, and shelters need extra help right now, and that is why we are asking for more volunteers to step forward,” Lamont said. “I am grateful to everyone who has already pitched in to support Connecticut families. The way we’ll get through this public health emergency is by working together.”

Volunteers from the general public will be matched with a community provider in need. Here are the basics:

*Volunteers must be 18 or older, and should not volunteer if at risk or compromised. Those who are immunocompromised, over 60, showing symptoms of COVID-19, or live with or care for someone in any of those categories should avoid being in public, including for volunteer efforts. Please stay safe, stay home.

*Volunteers do not need to be health care workers. In addition to calling on physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals who may be retired, the state needs community members to help out at food banks, food deliveries to the elderly, and at shelters in a number of ways.

*For those who do have a background in health care, the state’s medical community has specific needs at this time. Hospitals have advised the state that they have a high need for critical care nurses and repository therapists.

*Every effort is being made to keep volunteers safe. The state and all of the organizations involved are working hard to make sure that everyone helping out can do so as safely as possible. If any volunteers have concerns, they are strongly urged to ask about the safety protocols of the organization for which they are volunteering.

*Volunteers will be sent where they are most needed and feel most comfortable. The volunteer process is centralized so that the state and participating organizations have a clear picture of everyone who can help, and everything that is needed. That way, volunteers can be matched with an opportunity that is most in need of that person’s skill set.

Also Friday, Lamont announced a series of major actions his administration is taking to support Connecticut long-term care facilities, staff, and residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective immediately, the state’s 213 nursing homes are receiving a ten percent across-the-board increase in Medicaid payments to help meet extraordinary costs from the public health emergency, Governor Lamont said.

The payment increase will be applied toward employee wages, including staff retention bonuses, overtime, and shift incentive payments; and new costs related to screening of visitors, personal protective equipment, and cleaning and housekeeping supplies.

“We will do everything possible to protect the health and safety of our family, friends and neighbors in nursing homes — and the health and safety of the faithful, dedicated, and skilled staff members who care for them,” Governor Lamont said. The ten percent funding increase runs from April 1 through June 30, with an initial payment of $11.6 million scheduled to be received by nursing homes on April 7.

The three-month increase is expected to total $35.3 million.

Longterm care facilities that propose to be designated by the Department of Public Health (DPH) to specialize in care for residents with COVID-19 will be eligible for $600 per day payments for each person served. This rate is more than double the average daily Medicaid payment rate.

In addition, the state is offering to assist with start-up costs and to make the same $600 per day payment to facilities that are designated by DPH as suitable to be re-opened for the purpose of serving residents with COVID-19 and who need nursing home level of care.

DPH is the licensing and regulatory authority for nursing homes in Connecticut, while the Department of Social Services is the payer for services and supports for older adults and persons with disabilities enrolled in Medicaid.

Latest Executive Order

Late Thursday, Governor Lamont signed another executive order — the 21st since he enacted the emergency declarations — that builds upon his efforts to encourage mitigation strategies that slow down transmission of the virus. Executive Order No. 7T enacts provisions including:

Prohibition on non-essential lodging: Prohibits all hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and short-term residential rentals (including those arranged through online hosting platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo) from renting to customers for leisure or vacation purposes. Instead, lodging at these facilities must be limited to: *Health care workers, first responders, and other essential workers; *Workers engaged in transporting critical materials to hospitals; *Vulnerable populations, including those who are homeless; *Connecticut residents who need a place to self-quarantine away from family or roommates; *Those receiving long-term care or specialized medical treatment; *Connecticut residents in need of housing as a result of property damage, such as a fire; *Persons unable to return home because of constraints on travel; and *Persons engaged in providing or servicing lodging.

Further clarification of limits on restaurants, bars, and private clubs: Permits, under certain conditions, allow food establishments and liquor manufacturers to deliver alcoholic liquor and allows additional manufacturers to sell alcoholic liquor for pick-up and delivery. This will provide additional opportunities for these businesses to safely deliver their products directly to customers and reduce travel outside the home.

Suspension of notarization requirement related to Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program: Suspends the notarization requirement for certifying compliance with nondiscrimination laws for applicants seeking assistance through the recently created Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program for small businesses in order to ensure that applications can be completed and processed in an efficient manner.

Flexibility to maintain adequate child care infrastructure: Provides the commissioner of Early Childhood with the authority to implement a financial package to compensate emergency child care and stabilize the child care field to support providers through the emergency response.

Alternative to affidavits in relation to orders of protection and relief: Suspends the requirement that victims of domestic abuse sign an application for an order of protection under oath before a notary or attorney. Instead, the order enables them to sign an application outside the presence of a third party under the penalty of false statement.

This order, along with additional changes the Judicial Branch intends to make to its Rules of Civil Procedure, will ensure victims of domestic abuse continue to have access to our courts during the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor said.

For the latest municipal information CLICK HERE

Statewide information is available by CLICKING HERE

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Please check in regularly, share, and follow the newspaper’s hyperlocal coverage through the remainder of this public health emergency.