Up until Wednesday, April 22, Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert was not surprised as the number of COVID-19 cases in town has crept upward to the mid-60s.

But even the normally unflappable health official was rocked by the state Department of Health "data dump" that hit her desk that suddenly escalated Newtown's case count from 66 to 99.

"They all didn't test positive in one day I can tell you that," Culbert said of the 33 case jump.

Part of the information Culbert could be heard leafing through as she talked with The Newtown Bee late Wednesday afternoon included some day and date tracking of coronavirus test results.

"The testing date data shows there were a few each day going back to March, and those daily numbers appeared to increase - but by just one to four a day, over a period of many weeks," the health official said. "Looking at the numbers, April 4 was a big day and we had six."

Because she had been working to personally contact and council each local case, as well as five in each of the other district towns of Roxbury and Bridgewater, Culbert suspects that a lot of people who may have thought they were experiencing allergy symptoms, a cold, or a touch of the flu, finally got tested - and those tests were increasingly coming back positive for COVID-19.

She said one case on her radar is in quarantine, but so far has shown no symptoms of the virus.

"I can tell you that 13 of these 99 are or were in assisted living or long-term care situations who were hospitalized," Culbert said. "They have either since been discharged to other facilities to recover, and sadly we lost four of them."

The health district official said she was expecting to talk with both state health officials and several district peers in the next day or so, and hoped she would have a better idea of how and why the jump between April 22 and 23 was so drastic, before the weekend.

Statewide Wednesday, a total of 22,469 cases of COVID-19 have been reported with 1,972 patients currently hospitalized, and 1,544 COVID-19-associated deaths.

Fairfield County's numbers continue to tick up as well, with 9,883 positive coronavirus cases and 584 deaths.

In The Thick Of It

During his Wednesday press briefing Governor Ned Lamont continued to press state residents to take the COVID threat very seriously as case counts, hospitalizations, and death numbers also continued to climb.

"By no means are we out of the thick of this," Lamont said.

Wednesday, Lamont said another 16,000 state residents had downloaded and begun to report information on a new digital phone app that its developers hope will be an important tool in helping predict specific areas where the virus is developing, so health officials could react with stepped-up testing.

Just two days earlier, Lamont announced that Connecticut was partnering with developers of the "How We Feel" app in an effort to anonymously provide scientists with critical health information needed to understand the spread of COVID-19 in the face of widespread testing shortages. The app was developed by leading health experts from several institutions, including Harvard University, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Also on Tuesday, the State of Connecticut issued an RFP seeking organizations that want to partner with the state in its efforts to significantly scale-up its daily COVID-19 testing capacity as part of its efforts to reopen the state’s economy.

In addition to the current testing of patients and front line workers who are currently exhibiting symptoms of the virus, the state is planning to significantly build out its capacity to test people who are not exhibiting any symptoms, including front line essential workers, and test them regularly, knowing that COVID-19 can be transmitted before people develop symptoms.

To do this, the Lamont administration is looking for proposals from organizations that will support sample collection efforts, particularly in urban and underserved communities where significant impacts of COVID-19 have been prevalent, in addition to proposals from CLIA-certified testing labs.

“The sooner we can identify people with the infection, the sooner they can self-isolate and we can trace their contacts,” Governor Lamont said. “That’s how we will drive infection rates down and prevent rebounds in infection rates as we begin to reopen.”

Governor Lamont recently issued executive orders under the state of emergency that have suspended many of the state contracting requirements and will allow the administration to expedite the process. Proposals will be accepted and awarded on a rolling basis, ensuring that testing capacity can be rapidly built up to support the state's reopening plans.

Relief On Student Loans

Governor Ned Lamont and Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez, in collaboration with other states, today announced that the State of Connecticut has secured relief options with many private student loan servicers whose borrowers are not covered by the recently adopted federal CARES Act. This new initiative will benefit Connecticut residents with privately held student loans.

While the CARES Act provided relief for students with federal loans, it did not address millions of student loan borrowers with federal loans that are not owned by the US Government, as well as loans made by private lenders.

“So many of our residents are facing unprecedented financial hardship, and our young people are burdened with additional student loan debt,” Governor Lamont said. “I applaud the Banking Department and the student loan servicers for launching this initiative to provide much needed relief to the young people of our state who are not covered by the CARES Act, as well as their families.”

“Student loan borrowers, regardless of whether or not they are federally guaranteed, who are having trouble making their payments should immediately reach out to their servicers to discuss what options best suit their needs,” Commissioner Perez said. “I’m pleased that we were able to work with our student loan servicers as well as other states to bring this initiative to the people of Connecticut.”

Under this new initiative, Connecticut residents with commercially owned Federal Family Education Loan Programs or privately held student loans who are struggling to make their payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be eligible for expanded relief. Borrowers in need of assistance should immediately contact their student loan servicer to identify the options that are appropriate to their circumstances. Relief options through the servicers listed below include:

· Providing a minimum of 90 days of forbearance;

· Waiving late payment fees;

· Ensuring that no borrower is subject to negative credit reporting;

· Ceasing debt collection lawsuits for 90 days; and

· Working with borrower to enroll them in other borrower assistance programs, such as income based repayment.

Additionally, if regulated student loan servicers are limited in their ability to take these actions due to investor restrictions or contractual obligations, servicers should instead proactively work with loan holders whenever possible to relax those restrictions or obligations. The Department of Banking encourages prudent and reasonable actions taken to support relief for borrowers during the pandemic.

To determine the types of federal loans residents have and who their servicers are, borrowers can visit the US Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 or 1-800-730-8913 (TDD).

Borrowers with private student loans can check the contact information on their monthly billing statements.

If a borrower is experiencing trouble with their student loan servicer, they are encouraged to ask to speak to a supervisor. If assistance is still needed, they can contact the following and file a complaint:

· Connecticut Department of Banking: 860-240-8170 for information or file a complaint online.

· The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

An up-to-date list will be maintained on the Connecticut Department of Banking’s website at www.ct.gov/dob.

Life insurers Warned

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais is warning all life insurers doing business in Connecticut to refrain from asking applicants about exposure to the novel coronavirus.

In a department notice issued by the Connecticut Insurance Department to all insurance companies that offer life insurance coverage in Connecticut, the state agency is advising that any life insurance application form filed for review should not include questions related to COVID-19, including questions about being quarantined. Any life insurance application form filing that contains such questions will not be approved.

“The state of emergency has already placed undue hardship on families and businesses during this pandemic,” Commissioner Mais said. “Families need the security that life insurance brings and any new barriers to coverage must be avoided. Some carriers may want to know if people applying for coverage have self-isolated due to symptoms, or been tested for the disease or diagnosed with it. That won’t be allowed in Connecticut.”

Consumers, insurers, and brokers with questions can contact the department directly by e-mail at cid.pc@ct.gov or by calling the Insurance Department at 1-800-203-3447 or 860-297-3900.

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais is commending CIGNA and New York Life for their creation of the Brave of Heart Fund to benefit the bereaved families of COVID-19 front line health care workers and volunteers.

“Grieving families need so much support,” Commissioner Mais said. “CIGNA and New York Life have truly answered the call and responded to help protect the financial security of families affected by our current crisis.”

More information on the Brave of Heart Fund CLICK HERE

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, including an FAQ, other guidance and resources, and a way to ask questions, Newtown residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus.

The Newtown Bee is continuing to provide and mirror information and messages coming from local and state agencies on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. Newtown residents can get more details by visiting Newtown's own COVID-19 web page: CLICK HERE

Residents can also review all prior COVID-19 updates and follow the newspaper’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages for breaking local and state reports.

Please check in regularly, share, and follow the newspaper’s hyperlocal coverage at newtownbee.com through the remainder of this public health emergency.