Talking Transportation 2022
Jim Cameron

Metro-North’s Ongoing Failure to Enforce the Federal COVID-19 Mask Mandate

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I love getting email, especially from frustrated Metro-North commuters. Consider this thoughtful email I received a week ago from a six-day-a-week rider, Scott Mikita, who works on Broadway:

“I am actually on a train into work right now and Googled ‘Metro North conductor claims he can’t enforce mask mandate’ and your article from September 2021 popped up. I take 12 train rides per week and have seen ridership increase since coming back to work in September 2021. I have also noticed that trains are often shorter than before and some conductors reluctant to open empty cars, even on busy, crowded trains. “Just now, I asked the conductor if the mask mandate is still in effect (there is a couple sitting on the train, maskless) and he said yes, but that he ‘couldn’t enforce it.’

Coronavirus 2022
Darien School Bus

Schools Superintendent: Students Not Required to Wear Masks on School Buses Now

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Darien Schools Superintendent Alan Addley told parents in an email early Saturday afternoon that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer requiring that students wear masks when on school buses or vans. “[M]ask wearing will be optional in schools and on school buses on Monday, Feb. 28,” Addley wrote in the two-paragraph message. Here’s the full text of Addley’s message:

Dear Staff and Families:

This is a quick update to yesterday’s communication. Late afternoon on Friday the CDC exercised its enforcement discretion to not require that students wear masks on school buses and vans.

Coronavirus 2022
Measles vaccination shot 2433

Free Vaccines Offered at Person to Person

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Person to Person is co-hosting a free vaccination clinic on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at its Darien site, 1864 Post Road, along with Saint Luke’s Parish, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). — an announcement from Person to Person
This clinic, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., is for ages 5+ and is open to the public. All three branrish ds of vaccine will be available (Moderna, Pfizer and J&J) so this is appropriate for anyone who needs a first dose, second dose or booster. Participants are asked to please bring a health insurance card and photo ID if they have them, but it is not necessary to have health insurance or ID to receive the vaccine.

Coronavirus 2022
Darien Public Schools

Superintendent: Masks To Be Optional in Darien Schools Starting Feb 28

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Starting Feb. 28 in Darien schools: masks will become optional for students and staff, lunch practices will return to pre-COVID-19 rules, social distancing won’t be required, masks will still need to be worn on school buses. Those were among the upcoming changes schools Superintendent Alan Adley announced Friday in his regular message to parents and staff. Superintendent’s Friday Message
Here’s the full text of the message, sent out late Friday afternoon:

Feb. 18, 2022

Dear Families & Staff,

Last night the Board of Education convened a special meeting to discuss the transition to local decision making regarding the wearing of masks in schools.

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Vaccinations Flu Shots COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine

Free Vaccines Offered at Person to Person on Tuesday, Feb 22

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Person to Person is co-hosting a free vaccination clinic on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at its Darien site, 1864 Post Road, along with Saint Luke’s Parish, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). — an announcement from Person to Person
This clinic, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., is for ages 5+ and is open to the public. All three brands of vaccine will be available (Moderna, Pfizer and J&J) so this is appropriate for anyone who needs a first dose, second dose or booster. Participants are asked to please bring a health insurance card and photo ID if they have them, but it is not necessary to have health insurance or ID to receive the vaccine.

Coronavirus 2022
Darien Public Schools

Schools Superintendent: Updates on Masking, Next Year’s Budget, Vax Clinics

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Masking for Darien students and school staff may be over by Feb. 28, as the school District Medical Team has recommended, but the state Legislature and Board of Education will each need to approve the proposal, Superintendent Alan Addley said in his regular Friday message to district parents and staff. Over 99% of students from ages 12 to 17 and staff in their schools have been vaccinated, and 55% of students and staff in elementary schools, Addley wrote. “Making this recommendation is only possible given the success of our mitigation
strategies, our high community vaccination rates […] the sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases; low hospitalization rates; the lack of spread in the schools; and the minimal, if any, serious illnesses,” he said. Addley indicated that even if the mask requirements go, wearing masks would be voluntary, since “some staff and students may need to or want to wear masks.”

Coronavirus 2022
Darien Public Schools

Superintendent’s Newsletter: Vax Clinics for Kids 5-10 Start at Noon Saturday, COVID Restrictions to Ease

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Students 5 to 11 years old can get their second vaccination shot — or their first — from 12 noon to 3 p.m., Saturday, Schools Superintendent Alan Addley said in his Friday newsletter to parents and staff. This coming week, some of the district’s COVID-19 restrictions will be easing as the number of identified cases continues to go down: Lunches will return to cafeterias and spectators (who must be masked) will be allowed to attend sports games, Addley wrote. Another vaccination clinic for students of any age, with no signup necessary (just walk in), will be held from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, he said. Full Text
Feb. 4, 2022

Dear Families & Staff,

Earlier this week Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of below average temperatures.

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Free Vaccination Clinic Hosted at Person to Person on Friday

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Person to Person is co-hosting a free vaccination clinic on Friday, Feb. 4 at its Darien site, 1864 Post Road, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health. — an announcement from Person to Person
This clinic is for ages 12 years old and over and is open to the public. All three brands of vaccine will be available (Moderna, Pfizer and J&J) so this is appropriate for anyone who needs a first dose, second dose or booster. Participants are asked to please bring a health insurance card and photo ID if they have them, but it is not necessary to have health insurance or ID to receive the vaccine.

Coronavirus 2022
Thomas Balcezak

Almost Half of Pregnant Women Have COVID-19 at Yale New Haven Hospital Network

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Nearly half of all pregnant women at Yale-New Haven Health’s network of hospitals have tested positive COVID-19, the organization’s officials said Wednesday at an online news conference. At the news conference, officials also said:

—Expect about four more days of a “plateau” of  COVID-19 cases in hospitals and then a decline over four to six weeks, one hospital official predicted. —Also, hospital staff members have been reporting more cases of incivility from patients and family members, said the hospital network’s CEO, Marna Borgstrom. —Borgstrom said at the end of 2021, the health system had 531 COVID-19-positive hospitalize patients. On Wednesday, Jan.

COVID-19 Test Kits

Another COVID-19 Test Distribution Event in Darien on Saturday

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First Selectman Monica McNally announced late Thursday afternoon that the town has received 1,260 test kits and a supply of N95 masks from state authorities, and they’ll be handed out at a new distribution event early this Saturday afternoon. The free, drive-thru distribution event will take place the way the last one did — with vehicles entering the Darien High School campus from Noroton Avenue and leaving from Nutmeg Lane. (High School Lane will be blocked.)

The event runs from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Only Darien residents can take part, and proof of residency is required. “Walk-ins, with proof of residency, will be helped between 2:30 and 3 p.m., depending on supply,” McNally’s CodeRed announcement said. “As with the previous distribution, there aren’t enough tests for everyone in town,” McNally said.

COVID-19 2022
Coronavirus illustration CDC wide for facebook

Total New COVID-19 Cases in Darien Schools at 49 for Tuesday — Monday’s Figure Revised Upward

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There were 49 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday among students and employees in Darien Public Schools, district officials said, and Monday’s total of 55 was revised upward to 65. In related COVID-19 news, the Darien Health Department released its weekly update on Tuesday, showing 63 new COVID-19 cases reported in the seven-day period from Dec. 28 to Jan. 3. Numbers for COVID-19 new cases reached a high point in the six days from Dec.

Coronavirus 2022
COVID-19 Coronavirus

Total of 195 COVID-19 Cases Reported to Darien Schools Over Holiday Break, 5 Days of Self Isolation for Each

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There were 195 Darien school district employees and students who tested positive for COVID-19 during the holiday break, school district officials said in an announcement Monday night. The district now has a five-day mandatory self-isolation policy, and about a fourth of the total, 55 people, whose positive-test results were reported to the district on Monday, have been told not to come to school within that period. Of those 55, a total of 39 who tested positive were already vaccinated, the announcement said. “Without doubt, the Omicron variant of COVID is affecting our school community,” said the announcement from Schools Superintendent Alan Addley and School Nursing Director Alicia Casucci. On Monday, the district was informed of 31 Darien High School students or employees who been tested positive, and 22 of them (more than two thirds) had been vaccinated, the announcement said.

Coronavirus 2022
Darien Public Schools

Superintendent: This New Explanation of Revised Protocol for COVID-19 Cases ‘Essentially Reflects’ Last Week’s

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On Sunday afternoon, Schools Superintendent Alan Addley sent parents and staff a description in chart form of the state’s latest policy on school protocols for students or staff who test positive for COVID-19. “This is just a brief update to the communication sent to families on Thursday, Dec. 30 [on] Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) and Department of Public Health (DPH), testing, and contact tracing policies for schools,” Addley said. The superintendent said the district’s “revised policies,” which follow state education and health department policies, “essentially reflect” what the District Medical Team devised and told families about on Thursday, Dec. 30.

COVID-19 Test Kits

First Selectman: Limited COVID-19 Test Kits Available Starting at Noon, Sunday at DHS

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A “limited number” of free COVID-19 test kits are available to Darien residents who can prove they live in town in a drive-thru distribution event starting at noon, Sunday, Jan. 2, at the Darien High School campus, First Selectman Monica McNally said. McNally also said: “This current supply of at-home tests is very limited and intended for residents that are symptomatic or that have a known exposure to someone who tested positive.” The tests, two per household, will be given out until they run out, McNally told the town late Saturday afternoon in a Code Red message. The tests have already been given to the town government, McNally said, but the number of them is “substantially less than originally expected.”