Danbury Coronavirus: Boughton: 'We're Going To Be OK'

DANBURY, CT — Mayor Mark Boughton reported there were two more deaths in the city in the past 24 hours, attributed to the new coronavirus. The COVID-19 death toll in Danbury is now 75.

The mayor said there were an additional 18 Danbury residents who tested positive for the virus, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the city to "about 1,500."

Boughton told viewers of his nightly news conference to expect additional testing capacity in the city within 10 days.

Boughton said that he "absolutely" believes social distancing has saved lives in Danbury, but there was still a long way to go before businesses might run normally. He is "concerned about the late spring, the summer, when it's warmer out, people want to go out, they think we beat it... you're going to see a second wave, a third wave. That's going to be problematic."

The mayor envisions the Danbury Fair Mall and churches perhaps opening in mid-June, but that's only if there are no COVID-19 "flare-ups."

"We're going to make it through this," Boughton said as he signed off from the livestream. "I got a difficult, challenging year coming up in terms of getting all our businesses back open, that's really important to keep our economy going. But we're going to be okay. I know that with the Grace of God and everybody working together, things are going to turn out just fine."