Planning Ahead For Summer (And The Rest Of The Year) In A Pandemic

Our self-discipline to isolate is being tested and many people are failing. The summer-like weather brought crowds out to the state parks, especially on Sunday. Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection closed 16 parks early because the parking lots were at capacity, which has been reduced forsocial distancing purposes.

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It wasn’t just Connecticut. “The nice weather is very much a threat to us,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday.

This is the first time I can recall an elected leader concerned about nice weather.

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

By The Numbers

All numbers are as of May 3 at 4:00 p.m.

Limited data was provided because the Department of Public Health is switching to a new process to make data collection more sustainable. A full report including the number of cases is expected to be released later today.

• 2,495 COVID-19-associated deaths
• 1,488 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19

The Latest

• Secretary of the State Denise Merrill says her office will send absentee ballot applications to every voter in the state this year. She made the announcement on Where We Live this morning. Federal funding will pay for the costs, including postage to send the application back. That funding will also be used to purchase cleaning supplies for polling places and to make sure towns have enough safe locations for voters.
• Connecticut is working with six nearby states to purchase equipment and supplies that sometimes have been hard to come by during the coronavirus pandemic. The consortium will create a regional supply chain for masks, gowns, ventilators, testing supplies and other equipment vital to fighting the disease. The other states involved are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The states hope this approach will save money and prepare for the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 cases.
• As mentioned earlier, the nice weather brought people outside. There were also protests across the state, but they had different goals. At the state Capitol on Friday, protesters in a car caravan called on Lamont to support immigrant workers. The caravan drove by a smaller group of protesters who want the state to reopen, even calling the pandemic, “a hoax.” Here’s a photo from Connecticut Public Radio’s Ryan Caron King and see more here:

Credit Ryan Caron King / Connecticut Public

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Connecticut Public

Other Reads On The Coronavirus

• Kimberly Hall North nursing home is one of the hardest hit in the nation. Families want to know how coronavirus turned ‘a whole building into a giant cemetery’ - Dave Altimari and Steven Goode for The Hartford Courant
• Will Unlocked Italy Free Lovers and Mistresses, Too? - Barbie Latza Nadeau for The Daily Beast
• Collecting the Maps That Will Define the Pandemic - Laura Bliss for Citylab

Strange Days Indeed

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world right now. From big things like vaccinating the world, to just getting through your next Zoom meeting without interruptions. NPR’s Life Kit has some tips and tools for making it through uncertainty, from those who’ve experienced it.

Here’s a brief outline of these tips:

1. Reflect
2. Don’t “should” on yourself.
3. Know when to shut it down.
4. Find your “best gift” for the day.
5. Move past shame.
6. Find your “resilience circle.”
7. Don’t try to make sense of things too soon.

Read more (or listen to it) on NPR.org.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Stay distant.