July 13, 2020

COVID-19 Update – July 13

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Connecticut State Dept. of Education Holds Roundtable Regarding School Reopening

Last week, the Connecticut State Dept. of Education (CSDE) hosted a roundtable discussion regarding K-12 school reopenings in the fall. The department’s leadership team answered a host of questions from parents and educators about safety protocols, contingency plans for moving to remote learning in case of a COVID-19 surge, and more.

Please click here to view the roundtable.

Travel Advisory Status

Earlier this month, Connecticut implemented a travel advisory for residents and visitors entering the state from COVID-19 “hotspots.” Those who are affected by this advisory are directed to self-quarantine for a 14-day period from the time of last contact within the identified state. A state is considered a hotspot if it has a new daily positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

Currently, there are 19 states that meet these criteria. Please click here to learn more.

FDA Grants Fast-Track Vaccine Trial to Pfizer and BioNTech SE

Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to two of four of Pfizer’s and collaboration partner BioNTech’s vaccine candidates from their BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine program being developed to help protect against COVID-19.

Fast Track status provides for more frequent interaction with the FDA review team and a rolling review of the marketing application.

If the ongoing studies are successful and the vaccine candidate receives regulatory approval, the companies expect to manufacture up to 100M doses by year-end and potentially more than 1.2B doses by the end of 2021.

Connecticut Coronavirus Portal

As a reminder, the state maintains a COVID-19 portal with case and fatality reports, business reopening guidelines, and much more.

Please access the site by visiting https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus.

Hang in there. Better days are on the horizon. In the meantime, please continue to practice good judgement with a sprinkle of kindness on top. We all handle crises a bit differently and most have good reasons for their version of what’s best for them. Thank you to all who respect others’ right to live and let live.