Qualified seniors and disabled who would have to reapply for Newtown's property tax credit program in 2020, and who may already be struggling with COVID-19 challenges, had that requirement waived after a unanimous vote of the Legislative Council, April 22.

And state hospitals currently operating under massive financial strains as they grapple with a crush of coronavirus cases may get some critical financial relief under a new bill introduced by 5th District US Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, whose district includes Newtown.

The virus emergency has all but shuttered access to municipal offices. So Council Chairman Paul Lundquist introduced a local proposal he said would parallel an earlier Executive Order that rolled over state elderly and disabled tax credit programs.

That motion came during a special meeting Wednesday and was quickly and unanimously approved, affecting the same action on Newtown's own tax credit program — one of the most generous in the state.

"Basically it would allow people already in the program to just stay in the program without requiring a new application," he said. Any new applicants have until May 15 to apply by contacting the Tax Collector's office at 203-270-4320.

"They are very accommodating and making the process easy for everyone," Lundquist told his colleagues, who convened in a virtual meeting on the Zoom internet platform.

On Town Finance Director Robert Tait's request, similar action on veterans' tax credits were also included in the motion.

On the national/regional front it is no secret that Connecticut hospitals, including several serving those from Newtown, have been faced with unprecedented expenses as elective surgeries and numerous other revenue generating functions have been significantly constrained or suspended altogether.

As a result, Rep Hayes announced she would be be introducing the Helping Hospitals in Need Act, a bill which would direct critical resources to help hospitals in Connecticut and around the country that are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill would replenish funds for hospitals and providers authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act with another $100 billion.

It would also ensure that the Secretary prioritizes hospitals that serve a high proportion of uninsured or low-income patients, and states that have the highest per capita hospitalization rates for confirmed COVID-19 cases — like Connecticut.

“The reality is that the economic costs of combating this unrelenting disease have put the solvency of our entire health care system into question," said Congresswoman Hayes. "I was disappointed that the first round of relief ... did not take special consideration for hospitals in hotspots, children’s hospitals, and hospitals that operate in underserved communities with the most need. My bill would fix this mistake and bring urgently needed funds to help Connecticut recover from this disaster.”

The Connecticut Hospital Association has projected the hospitals in the state will lose $1.5 billion from this crisis alone this year.

Newtown's Number Flux

On Thursday, Newtown Health Director Donna Culbert was facing another reported death in the neighboring district town of Roxbury. But she also told The Newtown Bee that the State Department of Health has continued adjusting the number of COVID positive cases in Newtown from yesterday's 99, down to 97, Thursday.

At the same time, the state's number of reported cases escalated past the 23,000 mark, and Fairfield County's numbers ticked past 10,000.

According to information released Thursday, a total of 23,100 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, 1,947 patients are currently hospitalized, and there have been 1,639 COVID-19-associated deaths.

Fairfield County also surpassed a milestone, with a count of 10,008 positive reported cases and 615 related deaths.

Late Wednesday, Governor Ned Lamont signed his 31st Executive Order: 7DD, which enacts a number of provisions including:

*Additions to the definition of telehealth provider: Modifies state statutes to add any licensed dentist, behavioral analyst, genetic counselor, music therapist, art therapist, and veterinarian to the definition of telehealth provider;

*Additions to permissible out-of-state healthcare providers: Modifies state statutes to additionally allow the commissioner of the Department of Public Health to issue an order to suspend, for a period not to exceed sixty consecutive days, the requirements for licensure, certification, or registration for occupational therapists; alcohol and drug counselors; radiographers, radiologic technologists, radiologist assistants, and nuclear medicine technologists; dentists; dental hygienists; behavioral analysts; genetic counselors; music therapists; art therapists; dietician-nutritionists; and speech and language pathologists; and

*Suspension of continuing education requirement for health care providers: Suspends certain continuing education requirements for one year for occupations and professions with annual education requirements; and for other occupations and professions, the continuing education completion period and reporting requirements are suspended for six months.

On Thursday, the governor also initiated discussions with the governors of New York and New Jersey regarding a regional contact tracing strategy. New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a partnership with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg through the Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Lamont expressed the need for a regional approach concerning contact tracing that complements existing staff, volunteers, processes, and technology as all of the states’ residents are in contact with each other on a regular basis, especially commuters in and out of New York City.

Labor Stats & DMHAS Grant

Lamont also announced that the Connecticut Department of Labor has processed more than 320,000 of the 397,000 unemployment claims it has received since March 13.

Prior to a software improvement that was implemented last week, the processing time was about six weeks. With the new technology enhancements, that processing time has been reduced to about three weeks, and the agency is on target to reduce that time further to one week by the close of this week.

Benefits will be retroactive to the date a person needed to apply. Anyone who is filing for benefits is strongly encouraged to select direct deposit since that is the quickest method to receive the benefits.

The State of Connecticut has also been awarded a $2 million grant from the federal government to address behavioral health care needs of specific populations in the state that have been heavily impacted by the pandemic.

Its primary focus is to address the needs of persons with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, youth with severe emotional disturbances and their families, individuals with less severe mental health conditions, and healthcare practitioners.

The grant will support a number of activities focused on improving the health outcomes of those individuals affected by COVID-19 including:

*Purchasing telehealth equipment for DMHAS providers and DOC health care practitioners;

*Enhancing eight DMHAS-funded mobile crisis teams with additional clinicians;

*Providing staffing to a new statewide call center for adult crisis calls at United Way 211; and

*Expanding the DCF Family Based Recovery services for youth and their families.

The grant will also increase services for victims of intimate partner violence and support the behavioral health needs of health care practitioners. A final component of the grant will provide support to employee assistance programs at DMHAS-funded agencies.

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.