New Canaan’s first responders and other municipal workers will be tested for the COVID-19 virus Friday through Stamford Hospital, the town’s highest elected official said.
The purpose of the testing “is really to give the employees comfort,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan told members of the Board of Finance during their regular meeting, held Tuesday night via videoconference.
“I suspect we are going to find very few positive cases and some cases where people may have been sick and didn’t realize it. But I think our overall numbers indicate that the social distancing and the locking down of New Canaan was very successful in limiting the number of cases.”
As of Monday night, New Canaan had 206 total positive cases and 28 people who succumbed to coronavirus disease, officials have said. His update came as the town prepares to see certain business reopen after May with restrictions, as per Gov. Ned Lamont—for example, outdoor dining areas at restaurants.
Right now, Moynihan said, about seven municipal workers are in Town Hall on a given day while others work from home, and that officials are working on a plan to have them starting working out of Town Hall, slowly, after May 20 and into June “and continue to not have visitors come into Town Hall to the extent that we can avoid that.”
“We certainly will not have any in-person meetings, consistent with what’s businesses are doing” and “have plans to have the office space configured so that people can socially distance and work safely with masks,” he said.