East Haven Mayor's Father Tested Positive For Coronavirus

EAST HAVEN, CT — During his near hour-long State of the Town address and remarks about his proposed 2020-2021 budget, Mayor Joseph A. Carfora spoke at length about the town's expansive COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

He said the town has been "significantly impacted by this virus."

Currently, based on numbers between multiple sources, the town says on its website, there are 288 people positive for COVID-19. There have been 32 fatalities due to COVID-19 or complications related to COVID-19.

"Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones and who are sick," he said. "I understand your pain. My father is in long-term care at Branford Hills. My family just received word that he is COVID-positive."

The first positive case at Whispering Pines Rehabilitation & Nursing Center was reported March 31. Nine days later, 12 patients had died. Carfora said in his address that "the town has battled" with the state Department of Public Health "on Whispering Pines and that devastating situation."

"While we have no licensing authority, we have tried hard to get the state to recognize that families need to be treated fairly and receive accurate information."

As of May 1, Branford Hills Health Care Center in Branford had 91 cases and 11 laboratory-confirmed deaths.

Whispering Pines in East Haven had 50 cases and 11 laboratory-confirmed deaths and 12 "probable deaths."

As of early Friday, there have been 1,228 confirmed deaths among nursing home residentsattributed to the new coronavirus. That's an increase of 270 fatalities from last week's report. There were another 399 "probable" deaths due to the virus.

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