An additional 104 Connecticut residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday, bringing the statewide total to 327 cases, according to the state Department of Health. More than 3,600 tests have been conducted among the state and private labs to date.
In addition, 51 people are hospitalized and three more have died since Saturday from complications the virus, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to eight.
The county-by-county breakdown includes:
| County | Laboratory Confirmed Cases | Hospitalized Cases | Deaths |
| Fairfield County | 208 | 20 | 5 |
| Hartford County | 54 | 13 | 1 |
| Litchfield County | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| Middlesex County | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| New Haven County | 29 | 9 | 0 |
| New London County | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Tolland County | 14 | 2 | 2 |
| Windham County | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 327 | 51 | 8 |
Gov. Ned Lamont is reviewing and finalizing an executive order that further builds upon his efforts to advance mitigation strategies that slow down transmission of the virus; that order is expected to be released later tonight.
The Department of Economic and Community Development is preparing guidance for businesses on how to implement the executive order that Lamont issued Friday directing all nonessential business functions in Connecticut to suspend in-person operations beginning March 23 at 8 p.m. That guidance is also anticipated to be released on Sunday evening and will be published on the state”™s coronavirus website.
Also Sunday, Lamont became the first governor in Connecticut history to utilize the CTAlert system for a statewide phone call.
The governor used the system to issue a recorded voice message to more than 4 million phone numbers in the state to emphasize his “Stay Safe, Stay Home” initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. The call was accompanied by a text message to mobile phones containing a link to the state”™s coronavirus website, ct.gov/coronavirus.
Here is a transcript of Lamont”™s phone call:
This is Gov. Ned Lamont. I”™m calling to urge you personally: Stay safe, stay home. I”™m not ordering you to stay home, I”™m strongly urging you to stay home to make sure that you and your neighbors are much less likely to be infected by the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.
If you must head out to the grocery store, or pharmacy, pick up takeout from your favorite restaurant, that”™s fine. I”™ll be taking a long walk with (wife) Annie to get some fresh air, but remember to keep your distance from passersby.
Seventy years or older? Stay home. And for those of you who can work from home, that”™s best but check with your boss, first.
For the latest updates, follow me on Twitter or Facebook. We will get through this crisis by working together.
Residents can sign up for the CTAlert system at www.ctalert.gov.
FEDERAL AID
A vote to advance the $1 trillion-plus coronavirus stimulus bill failed on Sunday night in the Senate, as negotiations between the two parties have so far failed to reach a consensus.
Major issues of debate reportedly center on whether the bill”™s language allows corporations to pocket the bailout money while still firing employees; that the bailout money has virtually no restraint; and that there are insufficient stock buyback restrictions.
One Republican draft of the bill states that companies receiving loans must keep employees on staff “to the extent possible,” something that Democrats reportedly want to alter so that it offers loan forgiveness only if at least 90% of the workforce is retained.
While Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) expressed confidence that a Senate vote will be held on Monday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) announced, “We will be introducing our own bill.”
Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) has proposed universal $2,000 checks per month “for the duration of the crisis.” Other Senate Democrats have suggested quarterly checks that begin at $2,000 per person, decreasing over time based on economic triggers.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox News: “I think we have a fundamental understanding and we look forward to wrapping it up today.”
Mnuchin said the bill would include “small business retention loans,” which he said would give those businesses two weeks of cash flow to pay employees.
“You need to retain them. You”™ll also get some overhead. And if you do that, those loans will be forgiven,” he said. “That will allow small businesses to keep people, and make sure when we open up the economy, they”™re up and running.”
He also said that the government will provide direct deposits, with an average family of four receiving approximately $3,000, as well as “enhanced unemployment insurance” for those laid off due to the outbreak.
Mnuchin further said that, “Working with the Federal Reserve, we”™ll have up to $4 trillion of liquidity that we can use to support the economy.”
The secretary said the plan is broad based in order to help small and large businesses “get through the next 90 to 120 days.”
At his daily briefing, President Donald Trump said that Ford, General Motors and Tesla will begin manufacturing ventilators and “other metal products” that can be used to aid in the coronavirus crisis, and that states would then bid on those supplies. No timeline for when those products might be available for bid or distribution was given.
CRITICISM OF TRUMP
Denunciations of Trump and his administration”™s handling of the crisis continued to ramp up on Sunday, with a number of governors offering criticism.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor said to CNN that if state officials find needed PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) items on the market, they should buy them and the agency would pay them back later.
“I think the federal government should order factories to manufacture masks, gowns, ventilators, the essential medical equipment that is going to make the difference between life and death,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said during his daily news conference. “It’s not hard to make a mask or PPE equipment or a gown, but you need companies to do it.”
“We are desperate,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) told ABC. “We’ve had a big ask into the strategic stockpile in the White House. They’ve given us a fraction of our ask.”
“It would be nice to have a national strategy,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) remarked, saying the states are “all building the airplane as we fly it.”
And Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), who has become increasingly critical of Trump over the past few days, told CNN that, “We”™re all competing against each other. This should have been a coordinated effort by the federal government.”
Trump, who has said repeatedly that his administration is not to blame for the growing crisis, took to Twitter to offer his response: “@JBPritzker, Governor of Illinois, and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News @CNN & Concast (MSDNC), shouldn’t be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings. We are there to back you up should you fail, and always will be!”
“You should be leading a national response instead of throwing tantrums from the back seat,” Pritzker tweeted in reply. “Where were the tests when we needed them? Where’s the PPE? Get off Twitter & do your job.”
