Middletown Mayor: Daily Actions Will Determine Future Results

Middletown CT

15 April, 2020

5:07 PM

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MIDDLETOWN, CT — Two more Middletown residents have died due to the new coronavirus, taking the town death toll to eight, Mayor Ben Florsheim reported on social media on Tuesday night. In total, 151 cases have been reported in Middletown as numbers across the state continue to climb, both in the number of people who have tested positive or died. On Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that 197 more Connecticut residents have died, taking the statewide total to 868. He cited the surge in deaths from Tuesday's count to a catching up process by state health officials who compile records. In total, there have been 14,755 confirmed cases of the virus and a total of 1,908 people are hospitalized statewide. More than 50,000 people have been tested for COVID-19., according to state health officials. On Wednesday morning, Florsheim wrote in a social media message to Patch that Middletown's 151 confirmed cases are the result of about 520 tests that have been completed locally. He said that despite still experiencing a lack of testing supplies, local health officials have been testing on a pretty consistent basis. The biggest surge, he said have come in local nursing homes and the Connecticut Valley Hospital where people are living in close proximity to one another. He added that town and local health officials are in daily communication with local facilities and continue to distribute personal protection equipment to several of them. Overall, Florsheim is proud of the town's response, which remains mixed as residents continue to deal with the changes and hardships the global pandemic has brought. "I feel like the mood in town is both somber and optimistic," Florsheim wrote Wednesday. "Somber about the fact that we are losing residents and loved ones, but optimistic due to the fact people are really stepping up to help each other get through this. The most important thing is that people are taking this seriously. The actions we are taking now, today, are going to be what determines whether we look back in two weeks on this period as the end of the worst period, or the beginning."