Municipal leaders on Monday announced that Town Hall hours will be limited due to the COVID-19 emergency and said they hope to make drive-thru testing for the virus available next week.
Officials “have been working on bringing this service to New Canaan,” Emergency Management Director Mike Handler said of the testing in a town-wide voice call and email.
“More information on how this process will work will be shared in the coming days. Many people are rightfully asking how long this is going to last. While we do not have a definitive answer, it is important that we all view this as more of a marathon than a sprint. Whatever the duration, we will get through this together.”
The information comes as cases of the virus surge, with a total of 41 cases in Connecticut, health officials say, including 29 in Fairfield County. The statewide figure is up from 26 in just one day. In New Canaan as elsewhere, food service establishments may offer pickup and curbside service only, and gyms, public playgrounds and the movie theater are closed. The public schools closed and switched to an e-learning program last week. It isn’t clear whether the program will be extended starting March 30.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said Town Hall will cut hours from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. starting Tuesday and will operate by appointment only for services that require in-person meetings.
“We encourage residents to conduct normal business and service requests via telephone, e-mail or online, where possible,” a press release said.
Handler acknowledged in his message that the restrictions “have led to major disruptions in all of our lives.”
“These actions were not taken lightly,” he said. “It cannot be stressed enough, thorough hand-washing, social distancing and avoiding all group gatherings, regardless of size, are going to save lives. Despite mass transit still operating, we strongly urge you not to use mass transit. We should expect that this too will be halted at some point. We do support and encourage curb-side pick-up and delivery from our local restaurants. Many have made the adjustment and we are grateful for their efforts to serve our community.”
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Resources
- Here’s the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 homepage.
- Here’s a link to a page on the town’s website that includes information on COVID-19 and a link to sign up for New Canaan’s emergency outcall system.
- Here’s a link to the New Canaan Office of Emergency Management Facebook page.
- Here’s a landing page with information from New Canaan Public Schools on COVID-19, here’s the district’s main page for E-Learning.
- Here’s a comprehensive list of what local businesses are doing, compiled by the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, which will update its Facebook page with more listings.