In this week's COVID-19 Clip video outreach message, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal discussed the historic coronavirus-influenced shift of Newtown's annual budget process from a public referendum vote to a Legislative Council initiative.

The message also included information from Health District Director Donna Culbert regarding fluctuating COVID case numbers that earlier in the week lurched from 66 to 99 overnight.

Culbert also reminds residents of the need to get outdoors, while being mindful of protecting oneself from tickborne diseases, which could have dire health consequences, as well.

This series of video messages is produced in partnership between the First Selectman's Office and The Newtown Bee.

View the latest video outreach message below:

As of Friday, the state Department of Public Health puts Newtown's number of COVID positive cases at 99, and Culbert has learned of four deaths since the first few dozen coronavirus positive cases were reported.

She is also monitoring four cases in Roxbury and six in Bridgewater - both Newtown district communities.

At the state level, as of April 24, a total of 23,921 cases of COVID-19 cases have been reported, 1,877 are currently hospitalized, and there have been 1,764 associated deaths.

April 24 marked the first day since coronavirus stats started being produced by the state that new statewide hospitalizations decreased by 70. In a troubling juxtaposition, Governor Ned Lamont said 125 more deaths were registered since Thursday.

To date 74,038 COVID tests have been tested, almost 2,600 more since Thursday.

Fairfield County is still leading the state with 10,227 positive cases and 662 deaths. One other unique stat is between the next two highest counties.

While New Haven County registered more positive cases at 6,286 and 396 dead Friday, Hartford County tallied 4,570 positive cases, but significantly more related fatalities at 511.

Nursing Home Updates

Connecticut's COO Josh Geballe said as of Friday, state nursing homes had reported 768 deaths from the coronavirus, representing roughly 40 percent of the deaths across Connecticut.

One day earlier, the governor's latest executive order incorporated a number of related points.

Executive Order No. 7EE enacts the following provisions:

Mandatory reporting by managed residential communities: Requires all managed residential communities, including assisted living facilities, to provide daily status reports to the state using the existing Connecticut Hospital and Long-Term Care Mutual Aid Plan.

Mandatory reporting by nursing homes: Requires all nursing homes to provide daily status reports using the Connecticut Hospital and Long-Term Care Mutual Aid Plan.

Civil Penalties for failure to comply with mandatory reporting: Subjects nursing homes that fail to comply with the mandatory reporting requirements of this order to civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.

Waiving Medicaid bed reservation requirements for residents who are on leave from intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities: Authorizes the commissioner of the Department of Social Services to temporarily waive, suspend, or modify requirements to reserve beds for certain time periods for residents who are on home leave or who are hospitalized.

Waiving requirements for signed delivery receipt for medical equipment, devices, and supplies: Authorizes the commissioner of the Department of Social Services to temporarily waive, suspend, or modify requirements for providers of medical equipment, devices, and supplies to obtain a signed delivery receipt from the Medicaid member as a condition of payment.

Delaying Medical Procedures

Stamford Hospital CEO and President Kathleen Silard appeared on Lamont's daily press briefing and touched upon the subject of patients putting off procedures and parents refusing to have children vaccinated because of fears of going to the hospital and its physicians' offices.

She said in at least one case, it resulted in an emergent procedure needing to be performed on a patient.

"Because of fear of going to any health care environment, people with chronic diseases are perhaps neglecting the care they might need," she said. "We want everyone to keep in touch with their physicians," so that they get the care they need when they need it, Silard said, adding that Friday marked the first day her facility had more non-COVID patients than those with the coronavirus, since the first cases came in weeks ago.

She was also asked about President Donald Trump's suggestion about using household chemicals to stave off the virus.

Silard said she would "be very careful using nonapproved mixtures of cleaning products," for any reason. Lamont called the president's suggestion wrong and dangerous.

At the press briefing Friday, Lamont reported the formation of a task force charged with overseeing Connecticut's food safety and helping to mitigate food insecurity, especially around the state's most vulnerable populations.

"We were brokenhearted to see dairy farmers pouring off milk because schools were closed," the governor said.

That group will be headed by state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt.

Lamont also said he was poised to roll out a contact tracing initiative with more information coming out directly.

Finally, late Thursday the governor announced that the Connecticut Office of Policy Management (OPM) – in partnership with the Department of Housing, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), United Way 2-1-1, the Department of Correction (DOC), and housing and homeless service providers across the state – is launching a new program to coordinate housing solutions for individuals reentering the community from incarceration.

“Our Department of Correction views housing as one of the most important factors for successful reentry, and safe and stable housing has become even more critical as we face the additional challenges around the COVID-19 pandemic,” Correction Commissioner Rollin Cook said. “This progressive new program will enable DOC to prevent more people from leaving DOC only to wind up homeless, not only during these difficult times, but well into the future.”

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.