Daily Coronavirus Updates

After the COVID-19 crisis came to Connecticut, the New Haven office of Comprehensive Dental Health shut down completely for two weeks. Later, Dr. Joseph Tagliarini began opening the office a few days a week with a skeleton crew to handle emergencies. Now the office is operating at nearly full staffing—with six full-time and six part-time employees.

The mayor went first. The governor, lieutenant governor and the others waited their turn to condemn racism, America’s new ritual in the days and weeks since George Floyd breathed his last in the custody of police in Minneapolis.

Connecticut added eight states Tuesday to its travel advisory that calls for visitors from now 16 states to quarantine for two weeks. Meanwhile, as Connecticut reported just over 150 new COVID-19 cases, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor warned that the U.S. could experience 100,000 new cases a day.

New Haven will pay its school bus contractor $1.5 million less than normal for time the buses were idle during the pandemic — but more than they should, according to some Board of Education members.

The state released requirements and guidance Monday for local districts to open schools this fall as COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state fell under 100 for the first time in months. 

The number of patients in Connecticut hospitals with COVID-19 increased Friday -- the first uptick in hospitalizations in the state in a month, as concerns grew across the country about rising coronavirus infections. 

Connecticut schools will reopen for a five-day school week in the fall – as long as the coronavirus behaves, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday.

The school year may have just ended, but plans are taking shape for the return of students inside schools this fall. Gov. Ned Lamont announced the plans Thursday, noting that several COVID-19 trends are holding steady in Connecticut while the virus continues to spread in other parts of the country.

This story is developing and will be updated.

The governors of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey jointly outlined protocols Wednesday for self-quarantine measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 by visitors from states experiencing a resurgence of the disease and an alarming spike in hospitalizations.

The new COVID-ready Department of Motor Vehicles opened for license and registration renewals Tuesday, and the long-awaited first look at how public schools will operate in the fall will come Thursday.

Pride Month is looking a little different this year. Traditionally, Pride is marked by big parades and celebrations. But social distancing and racial unrest means that celebrations won't look the same as they did years prior. This hour, we discuss how the Connecticut LGBTQ community is celebrating this year.

Connecticut, New York and New Jersey officials are now considering imposing a self-testing or quarantining order on people coming in from other areas of the U.S. with high COVID-19 infection rates, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday.

Majority Senate Democrats unveiled a comprehensive platform Friday to reverse systemic racial inequalities in law enforcement, health care, housing, education and economic opportunity.

Gov. Ned Lamont came out Thursday in favor of a Republican congressional plan to pay a one-time $450 stipend to people who return to work rather than extending a federal program that provides $600 a week in added jobless benefits.

Some Connecticut businesses and organizations were allowed to open back up under the second phase of Gov. Ned Lamont’s reopening plan Wednesday -- but many did not. Amusement parks, health centers, libraries and movie theaters have announced opening dates for later in June or even this summer. 

One day before the state embarks on the second phase of its business reopenings, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday that state COVID-19 public health numbers continue their positive trend. 

Connecticut reported its lowest number of one-day deaths due to the coronavirus Monday, as the state prepares for a second round of business openings Wednesday.

When Naomi Jones graduated from Waterford High School three years ago, there were just three dozen black students in her school of 846 students. There was just one black teacher.

With the second phase of Gov. Ned Lamont’s plan to reopen state businesses set for Wednesday, the governor’s office announced Saturday afternoon that the number of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to decline. The governor’s office said 233 patients are hospitalized in Connecticut with COVID-19 -- 11 fewer than Friday. 

Department of Correction Commissioner Rollin Cook will resign his position effective July 1, Gov. Ned Lamont's office announced Friday. 

Gov. Ned Lamont urged residents Thursday to see the reopening of the economy as a chance to restart. Meanwhile, a new COVID-19 antibody testing program is set to begin in Connecticut to combat the virus, and state officials announced a new job training program that will launch alongside the next phase of the state’s reopening efforts on June 17. 

University of Connecticut students will be able to return to classes Aug. 31, but President Thomas Katsouleas warned Wednesday it will be an “academic semester and campus experience that will be unlike anything we have seen previously.”

Separate federal rulings this week have rolled back portions of two COVID-related executive branch orders: one suspending fingerprinting for gun permits and another restricting hospital visitation rights for families and friends of people with disabilities.

Tameeka Coleman and six of her children lived on the streets before moving into a shelter in Fairfield.

“We were together, so it was bearable,” Coleman, 38, said. The hardest part was when her children cried for their home. “They wanted to know how we had lost our apartment,” said Coleman, who was evicted after she couldn’t pay the rent.   

For some Connecticut businesses scheduled to reopen on June 17, the worry is finding enough disinfectant. For others, the biggest question isn’t about opening their doors but whether anyone will be coming through them any time soon.

Most business operators contacted Monday said the new guidelines issued by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration for the next phase of Connecticut’s economic re-start in the COVID-19 era were about what they’ve been expecting for weeks.

A caravan of cars that began in Stamford and stopped in four other towns before making its way to the state Capitol in Hartford on Sunday was among dozens of rallies, demonstrations and protests over the weekend after the recent death of George Floyd. 

Thousands of demonstrators across Connecticut joined protest marches and rallies Saturday in the growing movement for racial justice triggered by the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd and other incidents of police violence against people of color.

Gov. Ned Lamont, whose administration has been facing intense lobbying by the restaurant industry over COVID-19 restrictions, made a modest concession Friday by allowing indoor dining on June 17, three days ahead of the previously scheduled second phase of reopening on June 20.

Towns and cities facing mounting costs associated with COVID-19 will get some help as they close out their budgets for the fiscal year. The state also announced Thursday that unemployment remains at historic highs, though new weekly claims are slowing.

Gov. Ned Lamont said $75 million has been allocated for the creation of a Connecticut Municipal Coronavirus Relief Fund Program to help towns and cities cover costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.