Coronavirus 2020

Corbin Cares Initiative for Food-Insecure Families and Seniors Extended to July 3

Darien Beaches Back to Closing at Traditional 10 PM Time, Tennis and Pickleball Courts Open

Governor: Towns to Get Everything They Asked For in Reimbursements for March-to-June Spending Related to COVID-19

New Relief Program Targets CT Residents Hurt by Epidemic and Not Covered by Other Efforts

Town Health Director: New Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Way Down in Darien

Metro-North Increases Train Service by 26%

LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates: May 25 to 31

Darien Town Hall Has New Hours, Fridays Closed, Appointment-Only Visiting

LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates: May 18 to 24

Town Human Services Council Invites Darienites to Help Local Businesses by Providing Cloth Masks

There ARE Transportation Silver Linings in the Dark COVID-19 Catastrophe: Cameron on Transportation

‘Years, If Ever’ For Metro-North to Get Back to Pre-COVID Levels, Says Metro-North Chief: Cameron on Transportation

LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates: May 11 to 17

DHS Parents Association: Yard Signs Congratulated Each DHS 2020 Senior on Tuesday, More Celebrations Planned

LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates: May 4 to 10

Summer Picnic Series | End of Summer Family-Friendly Celebration at Grace Farms

Events Calendar

Community Organizations

By DARIENITE.COM | June 5, 2020

Recreation

By David Gurliacci | June 4, 2020

Government & Politics

By DARIENITE.COM | June 4, 2020

Government & Politics

By David Gurliacci | June 3, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | June 3, 2020

Transportation

By David Gurliacci | May 28, 2020

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | May 28, 2020

Government & Politics

By DARIENITE.COM | May 27, 2020

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | May 24, 2020

Business

By DARIENITE.COM | May 21, 2020

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | May 21, 2020

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | May 17, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | May 17, 2020

Education

By DARIENITE.COM | May 12, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | May 10, 2020

Name: Summer Picnic Series | End of Summer Family-Friendly Celebration at Grace Farms
Start: 2022-08-19T17:30:00-04:00
End: 2022-08-19T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Grace Farms

When Corbin Cares and the Darien Foundation partnered back in March to provide meals for Darien senior citizens and families impacted by the shelter-in-place order, the program was projected to wind down by Friday, May 22. However, the ongoing needs related to the pandemic have warranted the program’s extension to Friday, July 3. — an announcement from Corbin Cares and the Darien Foundation

“We conceived these meals to replace the lunches that were being served by the now closed Mather Senior Center and to support families who had relied on the school lunch program” said Sarah Woodberry, executive director of the Darien Foundation. “We are proud that as of May 22, this collaboration has provided 4,140 meals to those in need.”

Corbin Cares enlisted six local restaurants, including Bodega Taco Bar, Ten Twenty Post, Baldanza Bistro, Four Forks, Jake’s Place and UCBC, to provide healthy, boxed meals that are then distributed to the seniors and families. “It’s inspiring to be involved in a public private partnership like this,” said Ward Glassmeyer, chairman of The Darien Foundation.

Weed and Pear Tree Point Beaches are going back to their normal 10 p.m. closing times, and tennis and pickleball courts can be used by town residents, the Parks & Recreation Department announced Thursday. The announcement includes several other rules changes (all of which took effect on Thursday): The town now has a carry-in/carry-out policy regarding trash at parks (there are dumpsters you can use at the beaches). That includes taking your dog-poop bags with you, disgusting as that may be if you’re driving out. Here’s the Park & Rec announcement:
Beach Hours:
Beginning Thursday June 4, The Darien Parks & Recreation Department will be extending the closing hours of Weed Beach and Pear Tree Beach from 8 p.m. to our normal closing hours at 10 p.m.
Security guards will be on from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. with the park monitors working from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Please remember to SPREAD OUT TO STOP THE SPREAD while enjoying your beaches. Tennis Courts: may play singles and or doubles while always following the safety guidelines from the USTA.
Pickleball: may play singles only until further notice.

The federal funding now made available to the state ($75 million) to reimburse local governments for COVID-19 expenses is nearly twice the amount ($40 million) municipalities recently told the state that they expected to spend through the end of June, according to state officials. “We are reimbursing municipalities for their full cost of their expenses to date,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in an announcement Thursday. The money, from the federal CARES Act, also funds testing for the virus and an even larger amount for school district expenses due to COVID-19 — $111 million in Connecticut. The funds, which must be for additional COVID-19 expenses alone, will be given out in future months as well, according to an announcement from Gov. Ned Lamont’s office. School districts will get a share of $111 million from Connecticut’s portion of the CARES Act funding.

Image Youtube Gov's June 3 news conference on 4-CT program

A partnership between the state and various philanthropies is trying to help state residents directly hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic but who have fallen through gaps in other relief programs, Gov. Ned Lamont and other officials announced Wednesday. Here’s the announcement from the Governor’s Office (we’ve also included a video of the announcement; for this article, the list of long quotes from various officials has been moved to the bottom):

Gov. Ned Lamont today announced that the State of Connecticut is partnering with philanthropic organizations in an effort to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable residents in the state who are most directly impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency and are otherwise ineligible from receiving assistance through federal pandemic relief programs, including those from within the undocumented community. The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was created at the outbreak of the pandemic to provide emergency assistance to those who have been impacted, excludes relief to any residents who are undocumented and any U.S. citizen who files taxes with an undocumented spouse or partner. This same measure also denies emergency benefits to the U.S. citizen children of these parents. To address this situation, the Lamont administration and its philanthropic partners are taking a several steps to providing assistance.

Top part chart document COVID-19 in Darien

Darien Health Director David Knauf announced Wednesday morning that the town recently appears to be safer than it was from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a significant decline in people who have new, confirmed cases of the disease. “The medical advisor for the town informed the department yesterday he hasn’t treated a single COVID patient in a month at his private practice,” Knauf said in the news release. “Based on this data and similar trends reported in surrounding communities, it seems clear that community transmission has been significantly reduced and risk of Coronavirus illness is significantly lower than it was just a month ago.” Knauf said the Health Department “will continue to advise and conduct inspections during the reopening process” at restaurants, hair dressing salons, public pools, summer camps and beaches, along with conducting “contact tracing” of new COVID-19 cases, and other activities to lower the risk from the virus. He added: “In the meantime, please do your part by continuing with social distancing, hand washing and the wearing of face masks because it does appear those measures have made a difference.:

Here’s the entire announcement:

The Darien Health Department has been tracking reported cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Metro-North train railroad cleaning COVID-19 2020 Coronavirus 2020

Effective Wednesday, May 27, Metro-North is increasing service on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines as the Mid-Hudson region is expected to begin Phase 1 of reopening. — an announcement from Metro-North (with non-New-Haven-Line information removed)

The expanded service represents an overall increase of 26% in peak train availability since our essential service went into effect on April 13. Metro-North will also have 14 protect trains strategically positioned at major facilities to operate additional service as may be necessary. You can access the amended schedule online at New.MTA.Info. For train times, and real-time arrival and departure times on your phone, download TrainTime.

JJxFile user photo Times Square Thank you sign uploaded April 26 2020

This week’s news and links on the COVID-19 pandemic for Darien, as they come in:

LATEST UPDATES: Governor’s COVID-19 briefing for Sunday || Governor’s Saturday COVID-19 update || GOVERNOR’S FRIDAY COVID-19 BRIEFING: barber shops and hair salons can open Monday || Limit on gatherings upped to 10 indoors, 25 outdoors || Religious gatherings now 25% capacity or 100 people indoors (whichever is smaller) or 250 outdoors, starting Monday || Utility shutoff moratorium for businesses extended to July 1

See also:
LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates:

May 18 to 24 || May 11 to 17 || May 3 to 10 || April 27 to May 3 || April 20 to 26 || April 13 to 19 || April 5 to 12 || March 30 to April 5
SUNDAY COVID-19 Governor’s Briefing
Sunday, May 31 — Gov. Ned Lamont provided the following updates as of 4 p.m.:

Data updates on testing in Connecticut

The following is a summary of the day-to-day newly reported data on cases, deaths, and tests in Connecticut. It is important to note that these newly reported updates include data that occurred over the last several days to a week. All data in this report are preliminary, and data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected. Overall Summary
Statewide Total
Change Since Yesterday

Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
42,201
+179*

COVID-19-Associated Deaths
3,944
+32

Patients Currently Hospitalized with COVID-19
481
-52

COVID-19 Test Reported
250,046
+3,111*

*The number of tests in today’s update does not include the entirety of the data as there was an upload issue in the transmission of the electronic files to the state. The remainder of the test data that should have been included in today’s update is anticipated to be reflected in Monday’s report.

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson announced several changes on Wednesday for people who want to use services in Town Hall starting on Monday, June 1. For one thing, Town Hall is changing to a four-day-a-week schedule, with Fridays off. For another, the Monday-through-Thursday hours from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. It’s a trial period for the new schedule and, after a while, if it doesn’t work, the hours may go back to the traditional times. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, members of the public can visit Town Hall, but only with an appointment. Meetings will generally be held at “meeting stations” set up in Room 119.

This week’s news and links on the COVID-19 pandemic for Darien, as they come in:

LATEST UPDATES: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in lower Fairfield County || Governor’s Sunday briefing || Governor’s Saturday briefing ||Mystic Pizza gets first state permit to use state roadway space for outdoor dining || Governor’s Friday COVID-19 briefing || It’s complicated: Flags at half-staff nationwide till sunset Sunday and, in Connecticut, till noon Monday || Governor’s Thursday COVID-19 briefing || Darien drive-thru testing closed Monday (Memorial Day) open again the following Friday || CVS opens new COVID-19 clinics, including two in Stamford, one in Fairfield || First Selectman Jayme Stevenson’s CodeRed message

See also:
LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates:

May 11 to 17 || May 3 to 10 || April 27 to May 3 || April 20 to 26 || April 13 to 19 || April 5 to 12 || March 30 to April 5
SUNDAY State Statistics on COVID-19 Cases in Lower Fairfield County
Sunday, May 10 — As of 8:30 p.m., Saturday (and reported publicly by the state on Sunday), 203 Darienites were identified with COVID-19, five more than the 198 reported by the state a week ago, on Sunday, May 17, according to information released by state authorities. (Reminders: Many people are thought to have the COVID-19 virus who aren’t identified; the state says “all figures are preliminary and subject to change.”)

Here’s the number of identified cases in nearby communities, according to the state government Web page for this day’s Coronavirus statistics:

Stamford — 3,072 cases (52 more than the 3,020 reported on Sunday, May 17)
Norwalk — 1,964 (78 more than the 1,886 reported on Sunday, May 17)
New Canaan — 166 (three more than the 163 reported on Sunday, May 17)
Greenwich — 777 (26 more than the 751 reported on Sunday, May 17)
Westport — 284 (17 more than the 267 reported Sunday, May 17)
Wilton — 202 (two more than the 200 reported Sunday, May 17)
Weston — 62 (no new cases — no change from the 62 reported Sunday, May 17)
Ridgefield — 206 (11 more than the 195 reported on Sunday, May 17)
Fairfield — 564 (37 more than the 527 reported on Sunday, May 17)
Bridgeport — 3,199 (368 more than the 2,831 reported on Sunday, May 17)

TEN WORST HIT CONNECTICUT MUNICIPALITIES (with total cases): 1. Bridgeport (3,199), 2. Stamford (3,072), 3. New Haven (2,327), 4.

Face Mask COVID-19 2020 Coronavirus hand made

Several members of Darien’s Human Services Planning Council, which is convened by The Community Fund of Darien, stepped forward to create the Darien Mask Brigade, where individuals and groups may “adopt” a local business/organization and support their work by providing cloth masks for their employees. — an announcement from the Darien Human Services Planning Council
Due to the coronavirus health crisis, our current reality calls for wearing masks in public places and when not able to appropriately distance ourselves from others. This places a burden on local organizations and businesses, as their employees are required to wear masks at all times in order to operate and serve the community. Masks can be homemade or purchased. Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson applauded the initiative.

In the post-COVID-19 world (whenever that may be) commuters will be asking themselves one question: Is this trip really necessary? Sure, when the quarantining is lifted and the life threatening virus seems to have passed (at least until it returns next fall), we may look forward to getting back on the train and on the crowded highways. But the weeks of not commuting have changed our attitudes toward work and the necessity of travel. Going forward, I think we will be making that daily trek a lot less often and that will have a profound effect on transportation. Sure, plumbers can’t telecommute, but knowledge workers can. And they make up a large portion of southwest Connecticut’s population. They’ve been working from home just fine in recent weeks. So they’ll be asking themselves (and their employers) if a daily schlep into their New York City office is really necessary, or if they can continue to work from home two or three days a week. Being self-employed, I have worked from my home office for over 35 years. I sure don’t miss the daily grind, nor the office politics, and love my work so I end up doing it six or seven days a week: it’s not a job but a passion.

The road ahead for commuters may be less crowded, or maybe more. One theory has it that, as people gradually return to work, they will shun mass transit out of safety concerns and commute, instead, by car. That could create problems on our roads if people try to drive five days a week. The other speculation is that the “new normal” will mean less commuting overall as people have found they can be just as productive from home and will commute less than the normal five days a week. Work hours may also be staggered, asking employees to go to their jobs every other day to avoid crowding in the office.

News and links on the COVID-19 pandemic for Darien:

LATEST UPDATES: Governor’s Sunday COVID-19 briefing || Governor’s Saturday COVID-19 briefing || State to distribute 50,000 thermometers to small businesses, nonprofits, places of worship

See also:
LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates:

May 3 to 10 || April 27 to May 3 || April 20 to 26 || April 13 to 19 || April 5 to 12 || March 30 to April 5
SUNDAY State Statistics on COVID-19 Cases in Lower Fairfield County
Sunday, May 10 — As of 8:30 p.m., Saturday (and reported publicly by the state on Sunday), 198 Darienites were identified with COVID-19, three more than the 195 reported by the state on Tuesday, May 12, according to information released by state authorities. (Reminders: Many people are thought to have the COVID-19 virus who aren’t identified; the state says “all figures are preliminary and subject to change.”)

Here’s the number of identified cases in nearby communities, according to the state government Web page for this day’s Coronavirus statistics:

Stamford — 3,020 cases (74 more than the 2,946 reported on Tuesday)
Norwalk — 1,886 (110 more than the 1,776 reported on Tuesday)
New Canaan — 163 (five more than the 158 reported on Tuesday)
Greenwich — 751 (30 more than the 721 reported on Tuesday)
Westport — 267 (four more than the 263 reported on Tuesday)
Wilton — 200 (eight more than the 192 reported on Tuesday)
Weston — 62 (an adjustment downward of one from the 63 reported on Tuesday)
Ridgefield — 195 (three more than the 192 reported on Tuesday)
Fairfield — 527 (41 more than the 486 reported on Tuesday)
Bridgeport — 2,831 (275 more than the 2,556 reported on Tuesday)

TEN WORST HIT CONNECTICUT MUNICIPALITIES (with total cases): 1. Stamford (3,020), 2. Bridgeport (2,831), 3. New Haven (2,182), 4.

DHSPA closeup volunteer with Senior Send-Off sign 2020

To the editor,
We are writing to update you on the news surrounding the inaugural Senior Send-Off. Given the uncertainty surrounding social distancing policies for large gatherings, the Darien High School Parents Association (DHSPA) has come to the difficult conclusion that we cannot hold our event as originally envisioned. However, we are currently hard at work planning safe and creative ways to honor all 361 members of the DHS Class of 2020 over the course of the next month. On Tuesday, May 12, parent volunteers placed signs in the yards of each DHS senior. We are grateful to The Depot for their assistance in this project.

News and links on the COVID-19 pandemic for Darien:

LATEST UPDATES: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in lower Fairfield County; Governor’s Sunday COVID-19 briefing; Reopen Connectiuct panel to hold public meeting, encourages public’s questions on school reopenings; More volunteers sought to help with COVID-19 effort in Connecticut. See also:
LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates:

April 27 to May 3 || April 20 to 26 || April 13 to 19 || April 5 to 12 || March 30 to April 5
SUNDAY State Statistics on COVID-19 Cases in Lower Fairfield County
Sunday, May 10 — As of 8:30 p.m., Saturday, 197 Darienites were identified with COVID-19, four more than the number reported on Saturday, according to information released by state authorities. (Reminders: Many people are thought to have the COVID-19 virus who aren’t identified; the state says “all figures are preliminary and subject to change.”)

Here’s the number of identified cases in nearby communities, according to the state government Web page for this day’s Coronavirus statistics:

Stamford — 2,921 cases (49 more than the 2,872 reported on Saturday)
Norwalk — 1,764 (34 more than the 1,730 reported on Saturday)
New Canaan — 147 (no change from the 147 reported on Saturday)
Greenwich — 719 (seven more than the 712 reported on Saturday)
Westport — 261 (no change from the 261 reported on Saturday)
Wilton — 180 (two more than the 178 reported on Saturday)
Weston — 62 (readjusted to two fewer cases than the 63 reported on Saturday)
Ridgefield — 189 (no change from the 189 reported on Saturday)
Fairfield — 476 (10 more than the 466 reported on Saturday)
Bridgeport — 2,430 (52 more than the 2,378 reported on Saturday)

TEN WORST HIT CONNECTICUT MUNICIPALITIES (with total cases): 1. Stamford (2,921), 2. Bridgeport (2,430), 3.

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