Coronavirus 2020

RTM Rules Committee Meets Monday Night: Agenda Includes Leaving Town Budget Approval to Finance Board

Letter: How Your Letter Carrier Works With You at Your Doorstep, Mailbox — at a Distance

Darien: Make a Joyful Noise for Five Minutes to Honor, Thank Healthcare Workers, First Responders

First Selectman Bans Use of Public Baseball/Softball Fields in Town and Vehicles at Darien High

Darien Garden Club: Honor Heroes on the COVID-19 Frontline with a ‘Rose Bow for Heroes’

UPDATED LIST of Darien Restaurants with Take-Out, Curbside Pickup or Home Delivery

LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates: April 5 to 12

First Selectman: Ring a Bell, Make a Joyful Noise at 7 PM This Saturday to Honor Healthcare Workers, First Responders

Conference Call for Employers on State Aid Hosted by Gov Lamont, SBA, DECD

Person-to-Person Starts Home Delivery Service, ‘Door2Door,’ for Most-at-Risk Clients

Metro-North to Cut Train Schedule to Hourly on New Haven Line, New Canaan Branch Starting Monday

Grace Farms Foundation Distributes More Equipment to Fight COVID-19 in CT, Looks for Donations

Almost 300 Groups Around CT Creating Face Shields for Health Workers and Could Use Donations

First Darien COVID-19 Death Announced; First Selectman on What You Can Do to Beat This

Police: Please Walk, Jog and Ride Safely — Here Are the Rules, Here’s How to Follow Them

Events Calendar

News

By David Gurliacci | April 13, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | April 13, 2020

Coronavirus 2020

By David Gurliacci | April 11, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | April 10, 2020

Gratitude

By DARIENITE.COM | April 10, 2020

Food & Drink, Restaurants & Bars

By DARIENITE.COM | April 10, 2020

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | April 10, 2020

Gratitude

By DARIENITE.COM | April 9, 2020

Coronavirus 2020

By David Gurliacci | April 9, 2020

Community Organizations

By DARIENITE.COM | April 9, 2020

Transportation

By DARIENITE.COM | April 8, 2020

Charity Events and Opportunities

By DARIENITE.COM | April 7, 2020

Charity Events and Opportunities

By DARIENITE.COM | April 7, 2020

Healthy Living

By David Gurliacci | April 6, 2020

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | April 6, 2020

The Representative Town Meeting may not be the final arbiter of this coming year’s town budget. Instead, the Board of Finance may be the last town body to decide on the budget, without then sending it to the RTM. A proposal to do that is one of the items on the agenda for tonight’s 7:30 RTM Rules Committee meeting. You can listen to the meeting live, and see it shortly afterward online, but not submit comment on to the committee. The Rules Committee will also consider a proposal, described vaguely in committee documents posted online, for a local tax deferment program or “low intereste rate program” for town taxpayers.

Letter to the Editor 2 cents Parcel Post

The new normal for how your Post Office letter carrier is supposed to interact with you: No signatures, you’ll just give your name; the carrier will leave the package rather than hand it to you; don’t approach the letter carrier; you’ll get a door knock, not a doorbell ring. One more thing: “there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.” Here’s a letter to the editor from a state U.S. Postal Service official with more information:

To the editor:

During these challenging times, postal employees are working hard to ensure residents stay connected with their world through the mail. Whether it’s medications, a package, a paycheck, benefits or pension check, a bill or letter from a family member, postal workers understand that every piece of mail is important. While service like this is nothing new to us, we need help in the communities with social distancing.

Noroton Fire Department block party 2019

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson is asking town residents to express gratitude with a loud “Thank you” to first responders and healthcare workers, specifically by ringing a bell, banging a pot or otherwise making ourselves heard for five minutes, starting at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 11. “Residents are invited to join along. Stand on your front lawn or your front steps and ring cowbells, shake holiday bells, bang pots and pans or simply clap hands. Wave to your friends and neighbors,” Stevenson said in an announcement. “Let’s all show our town spirit, share our thanks and enjoy some smiles and waves — at a distance — as we all come together for a few moments to celebrate the heroes among us and spread good cheer!”

Darien High School is shut off to all traffic, other than for COVID-19 testing, “in order to eliminate the public from gathering in a manner that risks the spread of COVID-19 within our community,” First Selectman Jayme Stevenson declared in a late Friday afternoon proclamation. Also, all public baseball and softball fields in town, both those at town parks and schools, along with the batting cages at McGuane Park “are hereby ordered closed,” the proclamation states. The order banning vehicles only applies to Darien High School and is not “applicable to the other schools within the district until it becomes necessary to do so,” the proclamation states. The order takes effect immediately and “shall remain in effect for the duration of the emergency unless earlier modified by the Chief Executive Officer,” the proclamation said. “[T]here is a need to eliminate public gatherings at Darien High School and elsewhere so as to eliminate the possible risks of the spread of COVID-19,” Stevenson says in the proclamation.

It was week three of the COVID-19 Stay Safe-Stay at Home Initiative in Connecticut. With the valiant and continued service of frontline responders and community employees, the town of Darien was weathering the storm, and resident Betsy Bigler was feeling grateful. Bigler leads the new members of The Garden Club of Darien, who execute an annual project to benefit the town, a project that was recently cancelled due to social distancing mandates. And then it came to her — a project that could be safely done without group interaction, a project to show gratitude — “Rose Bows for Heroes.”

— an announcement from the Garden Club of Darien

“Deep pink is the color most associated with gratitude,” Bigler said. “As members of the Garden Club of Darien, and as a community, we wanted show our gratitude and support for every individual continuing to work during these unprecedented and challenging circumstances.

Seoul restaurant empty Photo by Jouwen Wang, unsplash.com

This list of restaurants in town that are still open and offering some combination of take-out, curbside pickup or home delivery is on the town government website and updated as of Friday, 9:28 a.m. since Darienite.com first published it. A link to the list Web page can be found here, on this list of COVID-19 resources and online information at the town government website. RESTAURANT INSPECTION REPORTS — Here’s a link to Darien Health Department’s ratings for particular restaurants. Town Health Director David Knauf recently said his department inspectors are working more closely than ever with restaurants in recent weeks but doing no inspections. He said he believes the result is still very safe for customers.

Flickr via Wikimediia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SARS-CoV-2_(yellow).jpg

Shorter news and links on the COVID-19 pandemic for Darien:

LATEST UPDATES: State stats on the spread of COVID-19 by community; Governor’s evening news briefing; DCA has some online offerings for you, and a reminder that its bird sanctuary and nature trail are open; COVID-19 tests at Darien High School were “going well” on its first Friday morning, first selectman says; Gov. Lamont issues rent-relief decree and holds daily briefing in the morning; Garden Club: Honor COVID-19 frontline workers, first responders with “Rose Bows for Heroes”; Help for women-/minority-owned businesses in applying for government aid. [See also: “LATEST DARIEN COVID-19 NEWS: Continual Updates: March 30 to April 5”]
FRIDAY State Statistics on COVID-19 Cases in Lower Fairfield County
Friday, April 10, 8:01 p.m. — As of Friday, 129 Darienites (two more than the day before) have been identified with COVID-19, 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 Coronavirus statistics updates Web page:

Stamford — 1,189 cases (76 more than the 1,113 of the day before)
Norwalk — 690 (19 more than the 671 of the day before)
New Canaan — 83 (two more than the 81 of the day before)
Greenwich — 294 (six more than the 288 of the day before )
Westport — 165 (seven more than the 158 of the day before)
Wilton — 91 (one more than the 90 of the day before)
Weston — 37 (adjusted downward by one fewer than the 38 of the day before)
Ridgefield — 121 (three more than the 118 of the day before)
Fairfield — 156 (15 more more than the 141 of the day before)
Bridgeport — 632 (68 more than the 564 of the day before)

TOP TEN CONNECTICUT MUNICIPALITIES (with total cases): 1. Stamford (1,189), 2. Norwalk (690), 3.

Noroton Heights Fire Department decoration 4-14-16

Gov. Lamont is hosting a statewide conference call for employers at 1 pm Thursday, featuring officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the departments of Economic and Community Development, Banking, and Insurance. Date, time: Thursday, April 9, 1 to 2 p.m.

Call: 888.456.0356; Passcode: 2802806#

Topics include:
—Federal Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Grants
—Connecticut initiatives to assist businesses and residents
—Mortgage deferment and assistance
—Health insurance grace period

Pam Dysenchuck David Dysenchuck P2P Person-to-Person Door2Door COVID-19 Coronavirus 2020

In response to an increase in demand for food assistance, and to ensure that their most-at-risk clients receive the essentials, Person-to-Person (P2P) has implemented a new home delivery system, called Door2Door, for those unable to leave their homes during the COVID-19 crisis. — an announcement from Person-to-Person

Using a contactless system of delivery, volunteer drivers are dropping off bags of groceries at the doorsteps of P2P clients who are not able to make an in-person visit to one of their three food pantries, whether due to age, disability, illness, or other high-risk category. P2P has food pantry locations in Darien, Norwalk, and a mobile pantry in Stamford, and has seen a sharp increase in the need for food assistance at all three of their locations. “We have many clients who are seniors or need to remain in their homes. No one should have to choose between their safety and access to food,” shares Nancy Coughlin, CEO of Person-to-Person.

Starting Monday, April 13, Metro-North will operate on an hourly schedule on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines on both weekdays and weekends. — an announcement from Metro-North

The new, temporary schedule is in response to a reduction in ridership of more than 95 percent as customers in the region have honored stay-at-home orders as a precaution against COVID-19. We would like to remind customers that trains are running for healthcare workers, first responders and essential personnel only. If you don’t absolutely need to be traveling, please stay home. […]

Trains will operate hourly on the New Canaan Branch and every three hours on the Danbury and Waterbury Branches daily.

Grace Farms Alliance Against COVID-19 has distributed more than 150,000 N95 respirator masks — 30,000 more than announced on April 2 — and is poised to deliver an additional 150,000 to the front lines, including Connecticut hospitals, COVID-19 clinics and testing sites, first responders and skilled nursing facilities in local towns this week. — an announcement from Grace Farms Foundation

An additional 50,000 pieces of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including surgical and disposable masks, coveralls, and goggles have also been delivered and are currently in use statewide. Despite the Alliance’s efficient supply chain infrastructure and large deliveries, significantly more PPE is required to fill the gap to protect front-line healthcare workers. HOW YOU CAN HELP

Grace Farms Foundation is actively seeking additional philanthropic support to ensure the Relief Fund continues to fill the need for PPE throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Anyone interested in supporting the Fund and learning about Grace Farms Foundation’s efforts can donating online by going to this Web page on the Grace Farms Foundation website.

Face Shields Housatonic Community College

Housatonic Community College (HCC) and three of its instructors have partnered together to create plastic face shield frames that ultimately can be worn by healthcare workers in the fight against Coronavirus. The efforts by Scobie and team are part of a larger undertaking happening around the state. Nearly 300 businesses, organizations and private citizens are working on over 500 3-D printers to make the shields daily and reach a goal of 20,000 shields in 20 days. — an announcement from Housatonic Community College
Working remotely, HCC instructors George Scobie, Adam Scobie and Tristan Hunte borrowed nine 3-D printers owned by the college and are privately donating the plastic materials and labor to build the frames. On Day Four of the effort, the team has already built a total of 150 frames at Scobie’s business, MRH Tool in Milford.

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson announced Darien had its first COVID-19 death on Sunday. She sent out this announcement in a Facebook video. While Stevenson did not name the deceased town resident, she said that person is not elderly. “This isn’t just a data point: This is a member of our community,” Stevenson said in the video, which runs more than five minutes. “Please extend your prayers to this family.”

Bicycles parked Darien Railroad Station Darien Train Station Bikes 09-18-17

With more Darien residents walking, jogging, cycling, driving and otherwise using the town streets and sidewalks during the COVID-19 crisis, town police have become more concerned about people staying safe and avoiding accidents. After all: A hospital is definitely one place you’d rather not be right now, if you can avoid it. So the Police Department on Monday issued some information on what the rules of the road are. “If everyone follows these basic and reasonable rules, roadways users can safely co-exist,” the announcement said. “Please, take an extra minute or two and consider giving “the other guy” an additional margin of safety and distance.”

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