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Amid The Onslaught Of Bad Coronavirus News, Some Not-As-Bad Trends Emerge

Sr. Airman Michael Choothesa of the Connecticut National Guard directs a car to the next station at a COVID-19 rapid testing center.
Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public
Sr. Airman Michael Choothesa of the Connecticut National Guard directs a car to the next station at a COVID-19 rapid testing center.

The pandemic news over the last 24 hours has had the slightest of silver linings. Hospitalizations are at a manageable level in Fairfield County, but there’s been an uptick in New London County. Fortunately, hospital officials there say they have adequate levels of personal protective equipment and ventilators. 

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The “bad” numbers continue to increase, but they’re not increasing as rapidly as they once were. At the national level, the weekly number of new unemployment gains fell from a peak of 6.8 million a month ago, to 3.8 million last week. That’s still 3.2 million more jobs lost than the peak of the Great Recession.

Here’s the latest on the coronavirus in Connecticut...

By The Numbers

All numbers are as of April 29 at 6 p.m.

  • 2,168 COVID-19-associated deaths
  • 26,767 confirmed cases
    • Fairfield County: 10,985
    • New Haven County: 7,205
    • Hartford County: 5,388
    • Litchfield County: 919
    • Middlesex County: 631
    • New London County: 540
    • Tolland County: 427
    • Windham County: 165
    • Pending address validation: 507
  • More than 94,818 people tested

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The Latest

  • Rep. Jahana Hayes is quarantining for at least the next 14 days after her husband, a first responder in Waterbury, tested positive for COVID-19. He has been asymptomatic and the Democrat from Connecticut’s 5th District tested negative. This week, House Democratic leadership cancelled plans to return to Washington on May 4. Meanwhile, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi spoke out about his own battle with the coronavirus during a press conference with Gov. Ned Lamont. Marconi, a Republican, said reopening the state too soon, “would be perhaps the worst single thing we could do right now.”
  • Roughly 1 out of 5 people who had a job in February are now unemployed, according to NPR. The U.S. Department of Labor released its weekly unemployment statistics this morning and an additional 3.8 million people filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. In Connecticut, 33,037 people filed last week, down from 102,808 the week before, according to the Department of Labor statistics. Here’s a graph from NPR to put the last six weeks into perspective.

  • Hartford residents who do not have access to a vehicle can have a mobile testing site come to them. Hartford HealthCare launched its mobile testing unit yesterday. This comes after criticism that people without cars couldn’t get tested at the drive-up sites. Additionally, the city of Hartford has established a ride service for testing at Charter Oak Health Center. The mobile program started at The Open Hearth in Hartford’s South End yesterday. Marilyn Rossetti, the shelter’s executive director said this should have happened more quickly. “A city with a lot of people of color and a lot of people without access to vehicles, we probably should’ve been doing things better, faster, sooner … there were a lot of moving parts that went into today,” she said.

Other Reads On The Coronavirus

Dr. Seuss Meets Dr. Dre

We’ve heard how Shakespeare and Newton were productive during past quarantines. Here’s the 2020 version of that. YouTuber Wes Tank raps Fox In Socks over beats by Dr. Dre. (h/t Meg Fitzgerald for sharing this)

It’s not King Lear, but it’ll do for today.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Stay distant.

Tucker Ives is WNPR's morning news producer.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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