As state virus deaths surpassed 7,000, Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and Health District Director Donna Culbert met this week to record the latest in The Newtown Bee’s ongoing series of “COVID-19 Clips” — outreach videos posted to the newspaper’s YouTube channel to provide important information as the community continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus.

The pair touched on several important subjects including the B.1.1.7. or “UK variant” of the virus, which was discovered in three individuals from neighboring Oxford this week, two pilot COVID vaccine clinics being planned for this weekend — which are already fully booked — and offered encouragement and reminders about preventing the spread of the virus as the state and nation begin rolling out more vaccine doses.

View segment #16 of our COVID-19 Clips series below:

As of January 28, Newtown had tallied 1,329 positive virus cases — an increase of 71 in just the past week— and two more deaths, bringing that tragic number to 59.

The same day, the total of COVID-19 cases reported among Connecticut residents was 248,765, including 233,661 laboratory-confirmed and 15,104 probable cases. Nine hundred ninety-five patients were hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and 7,020 COVID-19-associated deaths were reported.

On January 25, Governor Ned Lamont reported on the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Connecticut:

*First doses administered: 265,947;

*Second doses administered: 42,555; and

*Total doses administered: 308,502.

So far, about 27 percent of people over the age of 75 in Connecticut have received their first dose. Connecticut continues to rank in the top four states for administering the vaccine.

Connecticut is currently in phase 1b of its COVID-19 vaccination program. Right now under this phase, residents over the age of 75 can receive the vaccine.

Soon, the phase will expand to include residents between the ages of 65 and 74, and residents between the ages of 16 and 64 who have underlying health conditions. Residents and staff of congregate settings and frontline essential workers will also become eligible during this phase.

Information on Connecticut’s COVID-19 vaccination program is available at ct.gov/covidvaccine. Locally, find vaccine and other important COVID-19 information at newtown-ct.gov — click on the red banner to access the vaccine registration site.