Newtown’s load of coronavirus cases has surged from 319 to 343 since last week’s report, according to Health District Director Donna Culbert, prompting her to suggest residents consider stepping up their use of face coverings and other proven measures at home and in their workplaces.

Culbert told The Newtown Bee October 29 that a couple of new cases have developed in local long-term care facilities and the Garner Correctional Institution — among people who are not circulating in the community — but the bulk of new infections appear to stem from close in-home, travel, and workplace contacts.

“I know there are a lot of family situations and work requirements, especially among essential workers, where there has to be close contact,” Culbert said. “But as we turn toward the holidays, even as soon as Halloween, and we’re spending more time indoors, I want people to be thoughtful about how they are interacting with others and be as protective as possible.”

The local health official said if any current good news is reportable from the surge, the impact of the virus on those newly infected individuals seems to be somewhat more muted.

“I’m not seeing a lot of suffering and struggling like we have seen previously, but we know that can change quickly,” Culbert said.

She is reminding residents about taking required precautions during and after travel, and that there are times when someone who is asymptomatic, and testing negative, could still be shedding the virus.

As of 4 pm on October 28, Connecticut has logged 69,127 COVID-19 cases among more than 2.2 million people tested. There were 309 hospitalizations at that time, and statewide, 4,604 residents had died from virus-related illness.

During a press conference held in Newtown, October 23, Governor Ned Lamont highlighted the work of local and statewide contact tracers, who are playing a critical role in helping identify possible developing cases before transmissions can become more widespread.

“Thanks to all the local health departments, they have never been so busy,” Lamont said, “they’re out there doing enforcement, they’re out there explaining the testing, and the track and trace. It’s so vital for us to be able to test, isolate, and hold down [the numbers].”

Lamont said a new cross-platform mobile application is poised to launch that could help more quickly identify and help tracers contact possible infected residents.

“But it’s only good if people use it,” Lamont said, adding that it is an opt-in program.

“Nothing is more important than having somebody from the community give you a call or text to tell you, look, you’ve tested positive,” the governor said. He said that initial contact call can also facilitate assistance like finding the infected person a safe place to stay, help find ways to get food delivered, and even provide some short-term financial assistance.

“You’re not going to be without, and we’ve got you covered. But you have to tell us who you’ve been in contact with — because if you can tell us that, we can help keep them safe as well,” Lamont said.

Hybrid Public Meetings

Earlier this week, Lamont signed his 76th executive order, which permits state agencies and municipal boards, commissions, councils, and local legislative bodies to conduct business using “hybrid meetings,” wherein members of the public may attend in person or attend and participate remotely using video technology, and which allows members of such bodies to attend remotely.

The governor also announced that the three states collaborating on the regional travel advisory list — Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York — have agreed not to add each other to their respective lists.

The regional travel advisory that directs incoming travelers from states with a significant community spread of COVID-19 to self-quarantine for a 14-day period was updated this week with the addition of Arizona and Maryland to the list. No states or territories were removed from the list this week.

The requirement to quarantine applies to any person traveling into Connecticut from a state with a positive case rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10 percent test positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average. It also applies to any person arriving in Connecticut from a country for which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice.

Anyone arriving in Connecticut from any of the impacted locations is required to fill out a travel health form upon their arrival. The form can be filled out online at ct.gov/travelform.

Save Education Jobs

On the national front, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) introduced the Save Education Jobs Act of 2020, legislation to save nearly four million education jobs, spur economic growth in the midst of an economic crisis, and help mitigate the impacts of students’ learning loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a member of Congress with extensive classroom experience, I have seen firsthand how state and local budget cuts can decimate education funding. These cuts result in slashing essential programming, halting critical school construction and devastating cuts to the educator workforce. These job losses have long lasting impacts on the quality and efficacy of learning in our communities, and only further entrench growing disparities in our highest need districts,” said Congresswoman Hayes.

“We have lauded our teachers as heroes during these unprecedented times, as they have switched to virtual and hybrid learning to keep students safe during a global pandemic, and have recently returned to their classrooms, oftentimes with little assurance for their personal safety,” she added. “It is time we make investments to protect educators from the massive job losses we are almost certain to experience as a result of this crisis. Teachers are essential to our society and protecting them should be non-negotiable.”

Since February of this year, more K-12 jobs have been lost than nearly all of the local education jobs lost during the entire Great Recession. On top of that, Hayes said, states are facing a $555 billion budget shortfall over the next three years.

Without sufficient funding from the federal government to support states and school districts during the recovery, experts estimate 1.4 million to 1.9 million education jobs will be lost over the next one to two years alone. Connecticut is expected to lose at least 9.6 percent of its education workforce — resulting in nearly four thousand critical job losses to the state’s public education system.

She said many of these jobs include education support staff — the integral professionals that help to make schools supportive, welcoming, and safe environments for all students. These professionals help to provide mental health services for students, deliver nutritious meals and health care, transport students to school safely, clean and sanitize schools, teach the arts and music, and contribute to social and emotional learning.

The Save Education Jobs Act of 2020 would establish an Education Jobs Fund to stabilize the education workforce, delivering up to $261 billion to states and school districts over ten years. Ninety percent of the funding from this bill would go toward saving the jobs of teachers, school leaders, school psychologists, social workers, nurses, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, librarians, and more from inevitable budget cuts because of the COVID-19 crisis. Local school districts can also use funding to hire more teachers to meet the increased need during the unprecedented transition to hybrid or distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The remaining ten percent of the funding could be used to support teacher professional development, support educators, and provide mental health services — preventing further erosion of the workforce. The bill includes a provision to safeguard and promote equity — by ensuring continued funding for high poverty school districts.

Not only does the Save Education Jobs Act of 2020 help to save jobs in the short term, it will help reduce the long-term economic impact of learning loss. Researchers estimate that by 2040, learning loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic for the current K-12 cohort will result in an earnings loss of $110 billion per year and will reduce overall gross domestic product by $173 billion to $271 billion per year.

By helping save education jobs, Hayes said, this legislation will help schools reopen safely, prevent permanent learning loss, and prevent disparities in school districts from being further entrenched.