New Canaan Coronavirus Update: Reopening Begins

NEW CANAAN, CT — New Canaan and the rest of Connecticut began Phase 1 of Gov. Ned Lamont's reopening plan on Wednesday, with offices, retailers and restaurants for outdoor dining reopening as the state began to slowly move on from the coronavirus.

Town Hall remained closed to the public but fully operational. Phase 2 of the plan will begin on June 20 with Phase 3 to follow a month later.

New Canaan's confirmed coronavirus case information had not been updated since May 18, when the number stood at 210. A total of 29 residents have died as a result of the virus.

Statewide, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases stood at 39,017, an increase of 587. The number of deaths rose to 3,529, an increase of 57, but the number of hospitalizations fell again, to 887. That represents a decrease of 27 patients. (Don't miss local and statewide news about coronavirus developments and precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.)

This is from Emergency Management Director Mike Handler's Wednesday update concerning the coronavirus and reopening in New Canaan:

Today marked the beginning of Connecticut’s phase one re-opening. Many retail stores opened
today and on Friday, you will see New Canaan restaurants providing outdoor seating in a safe and well-thought-out manner. A tremendous amount of work has gone into this planning and I especially want to thank Public Works Director Tiger Mann, Chamber of Commerce Executive
Director Tucker Murphy and Deputy Chief of Police John DiFederico and all of our retail and restaurant managers for pulling this together on such short notice. This type of cooperation and collaboration is vital to re-inventing New Canaan’s retail and dining experiences.

It is important to remind everyone of their obligation to wear a face-covering whenever they cannot ensure 6-foot social distancing. The timing and magnitude of a Phase 2 re-opening is
heavily dependent on how compliant we all are during Phase 1, so please continue to wash your
hands, wear a face covering and follow all posted guidelines.

The New Canaan Library is sponsoring a community drive-thru Food Drive tomorrow, May 21st, from 2 – 5 pm at the Library. To donate food, you can drive in the Maple Street driveway, open your trunk and library volunteers wearing protective masks and gloves will remove your donation for you. You will not need to get out of your vehicle. This food drive will benefit the
Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, Person-to-Person and Filling in the Blanks.

We continue to finalize plans on New Canaan’s Testing Program and hope to have details to you later this week.