Phase 2 Re-open on track
Special Session on the horizon
CT Covid 19 by the numbers
Last call on surve
Links to live by
- CT moves closer to the re-open of it’s economy next week, on June 17, when Phase 2 of Re-Open CT takes place.
- On behalf of the entire retail community, we want to wish all our fellow retailers that will open for the first-time next week all the best.
- We know that this has been a very challenging time – to say the least – and that the re-opening on your business will come with some anxiety, along with great relief.
- For other retailers, the wait for re-open continues, but thankfully, Connecticut, as you will see below, is progressing very well with respect to the managing of the virus, so there is good chance that moving to Phase 3 will go smoothly as well.
- In the meantime, if you are opening in Phase 2 you can go here to review again the steps that need to be taken to re-open. To self-certify your business, you can input your information with DECD here.
- Best of luck to you!
Special session on the horizon
- Earlier this week, Governor Ned Lamont sent a letter to the bipartisan leadership of the Connecticut General Assembly notifying them of his intention to call the legislature into a Special Session to resolve the issue of absentee ballots in the November general election.
- In addition, the Governor is calling on the Legislature to take immediate action on police accountability and transparency, in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
- The Governor has directed his chief of staff, Paul Mounds, Jr., to commence discussions with each of the leaders on the details of proposed legislation on those topics.
- As we go to print with today’s FF, we understand that no firm date has been set for the Special Session, and that NO OTHER ISSUES will be addressed.
- We will continue to monitor this situation and will keep you posted.
CT by the COVID numbers
- We understand the dramatic and negative impact this crisis has had on your business and we appreciate the tremendous work that all of you have put in to get your business up and running.
- So, it is with that as a background that we thank you for your sacrifice and share with you that the so-called metrics that CT uses to determine how the virus is impacting our state show that we have done a great job in flattening the curve.
- Here are the numbers, as we go to print with today’s FF: There are 246 patients currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. The total of laboratory-confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases reported among Connecticut residents is 44,461. There have been 4,146 deaths in CT related to COVID-19.
- So, while every state has now re-opened, many of those states are seeing increases in positive tests and hospitalizations. In fact, today, the state of Oregon announced that they will hit pause on their re-open. Oregon is one of 11 states — the others are Texas, South Carolina, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, California, Nevada and Florida — that reached their highest seven-day rolling averages of new coronavirus cases on Thursday.
- CT has not. In fact, our cases continue to decline after re-open. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is around two-thirds below where it was when stage one of the reopening began in May.
- One thing we will continue to stress to the Governor and others is the need for customers to WEAR MASKS when shopping. We spoke to his office this week about the need to keep the message on mask-wearing strong.
Last call on Re-Open Phase 1
- Before we close the books on Phase 1 of CT’s re-open, we asked you to please help us gather some information on how it is going.
- If you have not taken this survey, we would please ask you take few minutes to take this survey, as this will be the last week we will have it up.
- Your responses will help our work with legislators and the administration. Thank you!
Links to live by:
- Connecticut’s positive trend in the COVID-19 numbers continues. CTNewsJunkie has the charts and town-by-town breakdown of the numbers here.
- Wedding and banquet facilities in Connecticut may return in July, according to state leaders. Hartford Business Journal has the story here.
- If Connecticut does not receive more stimulus money from the federal government, nearly 60,000 jobs in the state could be lost, an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute says. CT Mirror has the details here.
- The state is partnering with several private-sector employment services to promote jobs for the unemployed. Fairfield County Business Journal has the story here.