Newtown officials crossed a COVID-19 benchmark this week they had hoped never to see.

Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert saw her positive coronavirus case load hit and then nudge upward past 300 right around the time that the nationwide death toll from the pandemic surpassed 200,000. Nearly 4,500 of those cases were reported within Connecticut.

As of September 23, when the most recent official statewide report was issued, 304 Newtown residents had tested positive for COVID-19 with a majority of those cases recovering or recovered. To date, 45 residents have died from COVID-19-related illness, the majority of whom were over the age of 70, according to Culbert.

At that time, the total of COVID-19 cases reported among Connecticut residents was 56,315, including 53,969 laboratory-confirmed and 2,346 probable cases. Of those, 73 patients were currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and 4,497 COVID-19-associated deaths had been reported.

Among the latest high-profile cases is US Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, whose 5th District includes Newtown. Shortly after Hayes reported a staff member had tested positive, the lawmaker on Sunday, September 20, issued a release saying she had contracted the virus as well.

On September 19, Hayes said in a release, “After a phased in reopening of my offices, I was notified today that one of my staffers has tested positive for COVID-19.

“I have been in close contact with the staffer and I have worked in both my CT and DC offices over the last week,” said Hayes. “All of my staff has been notified and directed to quarantine and get tested. I am asymptomatic and awaiting an appointment to get tested. I will quarantine until I have the test and receive the results. My CT and DC offices will return to full remote work until further notice. I urge everyone to acknowledge the severity of this virus and follow the CDC guidance to keep our family, friends, and loved ones safe.”

One day later came the news, “This morning I received a positive COVID-19 test result and will be quarantined for the next 14 days,” said Hayes.

Hayes said after going to two urgent care centers the previous day, she was finally got an appointment at a third site and was tested September 20.

“Contrary to popular belief, members of Congress do not get tested regularly. In fact, we are not mass tested at all in DC. Masks, social distancing, and frequent floor cleanings are the precautions that are taken in the House. I have taken every possible precaution and still contracted the coronavirus,” she said.

“My experience and the experience of my staff underscores the need for a national testing strategy with a coherent way to receive speedy, accurate results. This level of anxiety and uncertainty is untenable,” Hayes said. “I am asymptomatic, except for breathing issues which are being monitored. Please keep my family and my staff in your prayers.”

On September 21, Hayes told the Connecticut Mirror, “I am feeling OK,” although her breathing had become “more labored.”

“I was attributing my shortness of breath to allergies, but clearly it is not allergies and my breathing is getting progressively more labored,” Hayes said in an e-mail to the nonprofit media organization. “Spiked a fever yesterday which has gone down after taking Tylenol.”

Since September 21, Hayes has been sharing photos of her pandemic journal on her Facebook page. The lawmaker keeps a running tally in the margin of her temperatures, as well as her staff tests and their results, and fills pages with notes about the ups and downs of her experience with COVID-19. On September 24 she compared the virus to “a cruel roller coaster,” before adding, “Do not overestimate progress.”

In late April, Hayes’s husband, a Waterbury police officer, tested positive for the coronavirus. He has since recovered.

Food Pantry Resources

On September 24, Governor Ned Lamont, Lt Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and Connecticut Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt announced the launch of a new initiative to provide emergency resources to Connecticut’s food pantries as the state continues to respond to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the initiative, food pantries in need of assistance can visit ctpantryresources.com, where they can connect to resources on food procurement and distribution, volunteer assistance, shipping and storage supports, and more.

“Our food pantries and nonprofit partners continue to be valuable resources, and we want to support them and the services they provide as much as possible,” Lamont said, noting that September is National Hunger Action Month. “I encourage these organizations to visit this website and input their information so that we can connect and supply these food boxes to those in need.”

It was unclear whether FAITH Food Pantry in Newtown would be participating.

In other news, 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 September 22: Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Wyoming have been added to the list of affected states. No areas were removed this week.

The requirement to quarantine applies to any person traveling into Connecticut from a state with a positive case rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10 percent test positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. It also applies to any person arriving into Connecticut from a country for which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice.

Anyone arriving to Connecticut from any of the impacted locations is required to fill out a travel health form upon their arrival. The form can be filled out online at ct.gov/travelform. On September 17, Lamont signed an executive order amending self-quarantine guidelines for travelers from states with high COVID-19 levels.

The amendment states that an affected traveler is exempt from the self-quarantine requirement if he or she has had a test for COVID-19 in the 72 hours prior to arrival in Connecticut or at any time following arrival in Connecticut; the result of such COVID-19 test is negative; and the traveler submits written proof of this negative test result to the Commissioner of Public Health or her designee.

Essential workers are exempt.

Vaccine Advisory Group

On Monday, September 21, Lamont announced that he is creating a working group to prepare Connecticut for the potential development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The group will be responsible for optimizing a statewide vaccine distribution strategy and for communicating critical medical information about the vaccine to the state’s residents.

It will be co-chaired by Dr Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner, Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) and Dr Reginald J. Eadie, president and CEO of Trinity Health of New England, the health network that includes Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital in Hartford, Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, and Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury.

The group’s rank-and-file members are in the process of being appointed; the governor said he expects them to include vaccination experts, vaccine providers, state agency representatives, state legislators, labor representatives, emergency management officials, and representatives of highly impacted communities.

“We have a responsibility to provide critical medical information and safeguards to the residents of our state, and I want to ensure that we have a plan in place for when a vaccine is developed and becomes available to the public,” Lamont said. “I want this group to review every possible scenario when it comes to the science and efficacy of the vaccine, as well as the logistics of its distribution.”

The group will be administered by staff from the Connecticut DPH, and public meetings are anticipated to be held monthly beginning around October. An announcement will be made when the remaining members of the group are appointed.

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus or text COVIDCT to 888777. Local information is available by CLICKING HERE