Daily Coronavirus Updates

While the latest statistics from around Connecticut offer “slight glimmers of hope” that the coronavirus pandemic may be easing, Gov. Ned Lamont warned Thursday that schools and most small businesses must remain closed for at least another month to prevent any resurgence of the deadly virus.

Two years ago, The New York Times profiled a man who decided to unplug from the news. Erik Hagerman knew that Donald Trump was elected president, but not much else -- not the Mueller investigation, not the deadly white supremecist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He had strict guidelines for friends, family and acquaintances. “The Blockade” as he called it, was extreme. 

Mister Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

This hour, we’re going to do just that. We’re talking to volunteers, and those working to make our lives a little brighter during this difficult time.

Connecticut’s official coronavirus death toll rose by another 58 people Wednesday, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 335, the state announced Wednesday. The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 increased by 110 to a current total of 1,418.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday that Connecticut’s social distancing measures to flatten the rate of coronavirus infections seem to be paying off -- striking a hopeful note even as the state’s death toll rose to 277.

The spread of COVID-19 in state prisons comes as Connecticut experienced its largest one-month reduction in prison population in history, according to the state Department of Correction. 

We’re at the point in this pandemic where many of us know at least one person who has tested positive for coronavirus.

This hour, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont is calling in to give us the latest on the state’s response to coronavirus

This post has been updated.

As the number of Connecticut’s new coronavirus cases continues to grow, Gov. Ned Lamont signed another executive order Sunday aiming to provide legal immunity to health care workers facing life-or-death decisions for patients in their care. 

Another 124 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized and 33 died overnight and early Saturday in Connecticut, a state bracing for a surge of novel coronavirus cases expected to peak by month’s end in Fairfield County. The death toll associated with the virus is now 165, and current hospitalizations reached 1,033.

Connecticut officials are bracing themselves for a peak in coronavirus cases to hit Fairfield County in mid-to-late April, before the virus surges across New Haven, Hartford and eastern Connecticut, according to case models released Friday.

Is this starting to feel normal yet? It remains remarkable how many things have changed and are continuing to change. One example is the thinking around masks. 

This post has been updated.

The state fielded 40,000 more unemployment claims over the last 18 days than it did for all of last year. 

It’s a staggering number, one that comes as the state government awaits its share of a $2 trillion federal relief package that could take until the end of April to arrive. And it’s just one more measure of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.

Over the last two weeks, 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. Last week’s report of 3.3 million new claims was astronomically high. This week’s numbers doubled that.

This post has been updated.

Two state universities are transforming athletic centers into mobile field hospitals in anticipation of a COVID-19 patient surge. The move comes as the state enters what’s expected to be its worst month of illness, death and hospitalization ushered in by a worldwide pandemic -- a surge marked by the state’s first reported infant death from the coronavirus.

March felt like a long, crazy month. April is expected to be worse. 

President Donald Trump told Americans on Tuesday “to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead." Meanwhile, Gov. Ned Lamont warned that “April will be a horrible month.”

As Connecticut’s death toll nearly doubled Tuesday and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by 557 in 24 hours, Gov. Ned Lamont delivered a bleak message to the state’s residents about a lack of critical supplies needed to fight the pandemic.

The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States has surpassed the number of people killed on 9/11. The two events can’t be directly compared, but there have been striking similarities: the fear of what’s to come, racism, and a stepped up law enforcement presence.

Updated 7:30 p.m. 

The spread of coronavirus continued to accelerate in Connecticut Monday with an additional 578 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in just 24 hours, another 113 people hospitalized and the death toll now listed  at 36.

As the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 continues to climb, officials expect the peak will hit Connecticut in less than two weeks.

This post has been updated.

After suggesting earlier in the day that much of the Northeast’s tri-state region could soon be subject to an “enforceable” quarantine, President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course Saturday night.

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Connecticut continues to grow, the state has been collecting lots of data, but there’s a potential blind spot: nursing homes.

Coronavirus deaths and infections continued to rise in Connecticut Friday as officials reported that 39 percent of the state’s 6,800 hospital beds are currently available to treat people seriously ill from the disease.

Gov. Ned Lamont said 1,291 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in this state, with 271 new infections, 27 deaths, and 173 people in the hospital.

“That’s the beginning of the surge, the beginning of folks going into the ICUs needing hospitalization,” Lamont said during his Friday afternoon briefing.