Let’s start with the good news: today the stock market closed with all the major indices up!
Lest we get too giddy, we are still in the thick of it. In his afternoon briefing today, Governor Lamont reminded listeners to continue exercising an abundance of caution and social distancing in order to try to arrest the spread of COVID-19. Following are some takeaways from his address:
- 618 total infections in CT.
- 203 new infections since yesterday.
- 900 nurses and doctors have stepped up since the state issued a call for more assistance.
- The deadline for return to school has been extended to April 20th and will be revisited in the weeks ahead.
- The Governor praised the hundreds of frontline workers who are sacrificing their time and health to serve people. He also gave a shout out to Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of Pepsico, and her husband, Raj, who has made a contribution to the Scholastic company to provide Connecticut students with online content at a reduced cost to the state. This comes just one day after the Dalio Foundation and Partnership for CT struck a deal to provide 60,000 laptops to students in need.
- Tomorrow the Governor expects to announce the formation of a new charity that is going to help address the COVID-19 crisis, but he did not provide details only that it would be called 4CT or ForCT.
- Given the spike in the unemployment rate in CT in March, the Governor said he will be looking to insurance companies to volunteer to help people keep their health insurance or he will order them to do so.
- Governor has no plans to shut down the state’s borders and instead pleaded with people to use common sense and follow the public health precautions to keep from spreading the virus.
- The state has hundreds of ventilators and has ordered 1,000 more.
- Finally, the Governor indicated the state will not wait for the federal government to act on a stimulus package but will forge ahead on its own but still did not offer details on what that would look like.
We will keep you apprised of any new developments. Stay safe and healthy!
