Darienite (https://darienite.com/category/healthy-living)
Exercise, outdoor activities and everything related to keeping healthy
As of Thursday there were 53 Covid patients in the Yale New Haven Health System’s five hospitals. That is five times the number there were two weeks ago. Of those, 10 patients are in the ICU. Five are on ventilators. Two weeks ago there was one patient in the ICU and none were on ventilators.
Darien’s regular vaccine clinic is closing on June 3. If you’re vaccinated, you don’t need a mask when you’re in Town Hall. Town boards and commissions will shift to in-person meetings in June. First Selectman Jayme Stevenson made these points — each of them reflecting a pandemic threat that’s shrunk in this town — in her regular Code Red message Thursday night. As if to underline the theme, she said this will be her last regular update.
In a webinar Tuesday morning, Community Mindfulness Project will share simple techniques that people who care for others can use to support themselves emotionally as they do that caregiving. — an announcement from Darien Library
When we witness the struggles or pain of others, the pain centers in our brain light up as if we were experiencing that same pain. This can be very depleting. When we convert empathy (the witnessing and taking on of another’s pain) into compassion, we trigger a physiological response that actually helps us to feel more resilient and resourced. As they say on an airplane, it’s important to put your own oxygen mask on before helping others.
Students must wear masks in school buildings for the rest of the school year, as state and federal guidelines state, Darien Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley told parents and staff in an email late Friday afternoon. But students and staff are allowed to go maskless outside on school grounds, he said. Addley wrote (boldface in original): “[E]ffective immediately, masks are no longer required for staff and students while outdoors or on school grounds. Masks will still be required to be worn on buses. For all other events taking place outdoors and on school property, masks are no longer required, regardless of vaccination status.” Addley made clear that the school district is following “updated guidance” from the CDC, state Department of Public Health and state Department of Education on the in-door rule.
Two thirds of Darien residents eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines have received at least one dose, and the town positivity rate for the coronavirus is 0.019%, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said in her regular pandemic update message on Thursday. In a separate Darien COVID-19 update, this one for families of students, school district Nursing Director Alicia Casucci had an important tip for parents taking their children to the Lord & Taylor vaccine site: You only need to register once, even if the people at the vaccine site tell you otherwise. Here are the full texts of the two messages:
First Selectman’s Update
(From a 5:56 p.m. email)
Good evening. This is First Selectman Jayme Stevenson with a COVID-19 update for Thursday, May 20. Another very positive week for our town.
The Darien Department of Public Works is organizing the town’s annual Household Hazardous Waste Day to be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, June 5 at the Noroton Heights Train Station. — This article is based on an announcement from the Darien Department of Public Works
The event gives you an opportunity to get rid of toxic, sometimes poisonous household items you don’t want that could be a hazard to you and your family members, especially children. And it lets you do it in a safe way that doesn’t hurt the environment, making it a better alternative to putting it in the trash, which would go to an incinerator that puts it into the air; flushing it down the toilet, which sends it to Long Island Sound; or pouring into the soil on your property. If you’re going to the drop-off site on the train station’s south parking lot (nearest the tracks leading away from New York City), you need to use the entrance at Hollow Tree Ridge Road. After driving through and dropping off your items, you leave the station using Ledge Road, near Post 53.
No new COVID-19 cases have been found in tests of any students, teachers or other staff in the Darien school district, Superintendent Alan Addley reported to parents on Friday — but masks will still need to be worn in schools, he said. State education and public health officials continue to mandate masks in schools, and Darien must follow their directives, Addley said in his regular email to parents and staff. First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, in her regular COVID-19 Code Red message to the town, also noted the continued state mandate on masks for schools and also for municipal offices. She also said that on May 19 the state was dropping any requirements for masking outdoors and mandates that businesses must require masks indoors. “Masks must still be worn on public transportation, in doctor’s offices hospitals and nursing homes,” she said.
Updated, 6:45 a.m., Wednesday:
Same-day registrations for COVID-19 vaccines and walk-in vaccination visits are unlikely because of the expected new demand for shots, now that children ages 12 to 15 are eligible for them, a health official has told Darien parents. But in her email to Darien school district parents late Tuesday night, Darien schools Nursing Director Alicia Cassucci also offered links to Web pages where parents can register for nearby vaccination sites. “We will continue to send more information about clinics as we hear about vaccine clinics in our area,” Cassucci wrote in the email received by Darienite.com at 9:59 p.m., Tuesday. Full Text of Cassucci’s Message
Good evening Darien Families,
We have just received more information and links for the Community Health Center Pfizer COVID vaccine clinics being held at the Lord & Taylor Vaccine Site in Stamford. The registration links are below. Given the anticipated demand at the opening of this age group it is unlikely there will be same day registrations or walk-in appointments available.
Kids from 10-to-14 years old who are brothers and sisters of someone who has a disability are invited to attend an online “Sibshops” workshop from 5 to 6:30 Wednesday, May 19. Sibshops are high-spirited and fun workshops combining recreation, discussion and information. Note that registration fills up fast, according to the organizer. — an announcement from Abilis
The event is organized by Greenwich-based Abilis, which serves those with disabilities in Darien and other towns, primarily in southwest Fairfield County. It will take place on Zoom.
First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, in her latest pandemic update Thursday, reported COVID-19 was found in only two-thirds of a percent of all COVID-19 tests of town residents over the past two-weeks. And there wasn’t a single case in the past week. She was careful in describing how good the shrinkage in the coronavirus is, saying she’s “very pleased and cautiously optimistic” about the low numbers. Stevenson also provided a list of vaccine providers. Her full message is attached, along with the town Health Department’s weekly report.
It’s time you start making time for yourself! Take a break from your busy schedule and endless to-do lists and join Mountainside Treatment Centers Saturday, May 22 for three hours of wellness, fun, and community. This free event, while created for individuals in recovery, is appropriate and open to everyone. — an announcement from Mountainside Treatment Centers
Mountainside addiction treatment centers, which has an office in Wilton, rounded up a team of experts to help you discover new passions, let go of whatever is holding you back, and gain practical and tangible ways to change your life. The series of workshops from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. are designed to help you learn how to save money to make that dream vacation happen or find new ways to manage stress.
Parents, consider getting your teenager, 16 or older, to a vaccine clinic to join 55% of Darien residents who have already got at least one shot. Community Health Centers clinic at the Long Ridge Road parking lot of the former Lord & Taylor store in Stamford will welcome Darien students, 16 and older, for their first shot on Saturday May 1 and their second on May 22. That’s part of the advice and news update from First Selectman Jayme Stevenson’s message to the town late Thursday. Darien residents of any age older than 16 are welcome at the scheduled Town Hall clinics — Wednesdays in May from 9 to 3 p.m. Again, no appointments needed. And there’s this consideration for high school students: “As we move closer to end of year activities like prom, graduation, performances, sports activities and other town events, we encourage all students 16+, with parent permission of course, to consider getting vaccinated.
All Darien High School students aged 16 and up can now register for the outdoor vaccination clinic in the parking lot of the former Lord & Taylor store, Darien Health officials announced Tuesday. Registration was offered last week to Darien High seniors for the same clinic dates: May 1 and May 22 (both Saturdays) from 1 to 4 p.m. The appointment time selected for the first vaccination will be the time the student will be scheduled for the second, on May 22. The announcement came from Alicia Cassuci, the school district’s director of nursing services and town Health Director David Knauf. When Darien teachers were given vaccines at Saturday clinics, enough of them suffered so many side effects that three schools had to be cancelled for the following Monday. Full Text of the Announcement
This announcement was emailed to Darienite.com at 10:01 a.m., Tuesday:
Dear Darien High School Families,
We are thrilled to announce, in collaboration with the Community Health Center (CHC), a Pfizer COVID vaccine clinic has been scheduled for Darien High School students.
Darien High School seniors can now register to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on May 1, and the second dose on May 22 at the parking lot of the former Lord & Taylor store in Stamford, Darien officials announced. “We anticipate opening the registration link to all students over 16 years of age or older by next week,” the announcement from schools Nursing Director Alicia Casucci and town Health Director David Knauf said. In a separate announcement, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said Darien has had 58 new cases during the two-week period since April 2. “We are tracking information about folks who are fully vaccinated who then contract COVID,” Stevenson said in her regular, weekly COVID-19 update. “Only one such case has occurred in Darien so far.”
Unsure of how to start a conversation about reproduction or sexual health with your children? Join Amanda D. Romaniello, a licensed professional counselor, in Darien Library’s “Birds and the Bees” programs to learn how to discuss topics in an informational yet developmentally appropriate way. Romaniello has over a decade of experience in the mental health field. She holds a B.A. in psychology from the State University of New York at Geneseo and an M.A. in forensic psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is currently in private practice in Fairfield.
Darien Health Department issued advice Tuesday morning to anyone who took the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, after reports of rare blood-clotting from others who have taken it. “People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.” In another COVID-19 related announcement, three Stamford Hospital physicians will answer questions from the public about the coronavirus in an online event Wednesday evening sponsored by Darien Library. Federal officials have suggested a pause in using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Darien Health Department does not use it, the department said in the announcement (full text, below).