Two Years Later: A Look Back at Beginning of COVID-19 Pandemic in CT

Two years have passed since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Connecticut. The first case was announced on March 8, 2020.

It would not be long before the pandemic changed life as we knew it. Social distancing became an everyday practice and face masks became a necessity when interacting with anyone outside your household.

In the last two years, there have been 727,542 cases of COVID-19 in the state and 10,515 COVID-19 related deaths.

Two years later, COVID-19 is still affecting lives, but vaccinations have provided hope and many restrictions put in place have been lifted, including face mask requirements.

Here is a look back at the early days of the pandemic.

Beginning of COVID-19 Pandemic in Connecticut

The first case of COVID-19 in Connecticut was announced on March 8, 2020.

Local

Milford 50 mins ago

Beachgoers head to the shoreline as summer approaches

new haven 1 hour ago

New Haven police chief addresses crime concerns in Westville neighborhood

In the initial days of the pandemic, the state lab was able to complete between 15 and 20 COVID-19 tests per day and there were only a few labs that could handle tests and people getting tested needed to be referred by a physician in advance.

On March 10, 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont declared civil preparedness and public health emergencies in response to the pandemic, which allowed him to temporarily suspend some state laws and regulations.

By March 12, 2020, the governor banned all events in the state with more than 250 people.

Schools were beginning to close because of the pandemic and the governor signed an order to modify the state law requiring schools to be in session for at least 180 days.

Among the actions the governor took was an order for the state Department of Motor Vehicles to extend license renewals.

Restrictions were placed on visits to nursing homes.

On March 14, a moratorium on all utility shut-offs went into place and several state agencies rolled out measures to promote social distancing.

At that point, there had been 20 positive cases of COVID-19 in the state.

Lamont signed his third executive order, which relaxed in-person open meeting requirements and eased telework requirements, allowing more state employees to work from home.

On March 15, 2020, Lamont canceled classes at all public schools statewide, which was originally supposed to be in effect from March 17 through at least March 31.

In May 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont would announce that schools would be closed for the rest of the academic year.

He authorized the DMV commissioner to close branches to the public, conduct business remotely, and extend deadlines.

Amid a national shortage of hand sanitizer, the state allowed pharmacies to make and sell their own.

Many businesses were closing their doors and the governor announced on March 16, 2020 that small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Connecticut that were negatively impacted by the pandemic would be eligible for disaster relief loans.

By March 16, 2020, gatherings of more than 50 people were prohibited, drive-through COVID-19 testing started at some hospitals and several businesses were ordered to closed by 8 p.m.

The governor also announced that the State Department of Education was working with school districts to develop distance learning plans and ensure students had access to nutritious meals.

The governors of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey worked together with a regional approach to dealing with COVID-19, which included that restaurants and bars that served food would temporarily be required to move to take-out and delivery services only and bars that did not serve food would have to close.

Price gouging had become an issue and by March 17, 2020, Attorney General William Tong reported receiving 71 complaints about price gouging on basic supplies.

On March 18, 2020, the governor announced the first COVID-19 death in the state. https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2020/03-2020/Governor-Lamont-Statement-on-the-First-Coronavirus-Death-in-Connecticut

On March 18, 2020, Lamont announced that indoor malls and places of amusement other than parks and open space areas would close by the night of March 19.

A day later, on March 19, Lamont postponed the state’s presidential primary, allowed eating establishments to sell alcohol with take-out food orders, closed barbershops, hair salons and tattoo and piercing parlors, and expanded telehealth.

On March 20, 2022, Lamont started “Stay Safe, Stay Home,” which directed non-essential businesses to close by 8 p.m. on March 23, 2020, and for those that had to remain open to implement social distancing.

He called for all non-essential public community gatherings of any size to be canceled or postponed.

People were also asked to limit outdoor recreational activities to non-contact and avoid activities where they come in close contact with other people.

By March 26, 2020, there were more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19 in Connecticut and 21 deaths.

As the pandemic extended, the state Department of Labor was inundated with unemployment claims and held frequent briefings on the status of processing what they called an “overwhelming surge in claim applications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

As the pandemic stretched to months, Lamont called in the National Guard for help.

To help reduce the spread of the virus, a regional travel advisory went into effect.

It required people coming in from states with a significant community spread of COVID-19 to self-quarantine for 14 days.

During the summer travel season of 2020, it affected where people could freely travel to and from or to quarantine upon returning home.

By Aug. 3, 2020, there had been more than 50,062 cases of COVID-19 in Connecticut and more than 4,400 deaths.

Where the COVID-19 Pandemic in CT Stand Now

As of Monday, March 7, 2022, there have been 727,542 cases of COVID-19 in the state and 10,515 COVID-19 related deaths.

At the height of the pandemic, thousands of people were hospitalized with COVID-19.

As of Monday, 145 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, and 64, or 44.1%, are not fully vaccinated.