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A Year of COVID in East Haven

March 23 marks one year since Governor Ned Lamont implemented the Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order in reponse to the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering non-essential businesses to close, the cancellation of non-essential gatherings, and social distancing guidelines. Many town departments, including East Haven Public Schools (EHPS), announced closures 10 days prior, with Mayor Joe Carfora issuing a state of emergency on March 16, 2020. And while masking up now feels like a regular part of the every day routine, that mandate didn’t go into effect until April 20.

“The town, as a whole, was affected in many ways—financially, socially, emotionally, and psychologically—but it was also a learning experience on how to continue to provide services to the community while at the same time adhering to CDC guidelines and the governor’s executive orders,” said Carfora. “Hopefully now that the vaccine is available and being distributed, we will be moving more rapidly in a direction of normalcy.”

After numerous meetings, surveys, and planning sessions, EHPS returned to school in a full-time model with a remote learning option on Sept. 8, 2020. Despite having to quarantine various groups since then, EHPS has continued to maintain its full in-person model.

There have been no cases contact-traced to in-school transmission. During the school year, there have been 76 staff and 177 students who have tested positive for COVID-19. As of March 12, there are currently 179 members of the EHPS community in quarantine.

“We have experienced what some corporations describe as disruptive change and as a result, we were challenged to quickly adjust and make changes while responding in quick and innovative ways,” said Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti. “I am now talking with leadership about the changes we have made that we need to look more closely at because they have made positive impacts on students, allowed us to make deeper connections with families, and provided us with opportunities to support our staff in more efficient and effective ways. These conversations are happening and the bottom line is that we can’t just revert back to doing what we always have without carrying some of this positive disruptive change with us.”

Despite the challenges of the last year, Forti has seen positives and is thankful to the Board of Education and community partners for allowing EHPS to continue to offer parents a choice of in-person or remote learning. At this time, 29 percent of EHPS’s 2,793 enrolled students are attending school as remote learners. She is also grateful for the opportunity for teachers to receive their vaccinations.

While there is now hope with the vaccine distribution, COVID-19 has made it mark throughout the world. According to portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus, as of March 11, there have been 290,577 total of laboratory-confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases reported among Connecticut residents and 7,765 COVID-19-associated deaths. In East Haven, there have been 2,823 cases (confirmed and probable) with 74 deaths.

Carfora understands the impacts of COVID-19 firsthand. He lost his father during the pandemic and also tested positive for COVID-19 in November 2020. He also communicated with many residents about the financial hardships brought on because of COVID-19.

“We sympathize with the residents of town who suffered financially due to the pandemic and were unable to work, but more importantly were personally impacted through the illness or loss of a family member,” said Carfora. “My illness and loss pales in comparison to that of some town people.”

Changing Workflow

One of the first logistical challenges the town faced in dealing with the pandemic was updating the town’s information technology infrastructure to allow town employees to safely work remotely. Carfora extends credit in building out that system to Assistant Director of Administration and Management Michelle Benivegna, Administrative Assistant Tina Hedley, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Matt Marcarelli, and Police Chief Ed Lennon.

“It was always a top priority of our emergency management team to keep our first responders and our community safe while balancing the fact that government needs to function, we did just that; continuity of government was a priority,” said Carfora. “We can’t thank our first responders enough for their efforts during this difficult time. Chief Lennon and Chief Marcarelli and the men and women of their respective departments never wavered. They did their jobs under extraordinarily stressful and difficult conditions.”

Both the East Haven Fire Department (EHFD) and East Haven Police Department (EHPD) had to adjust procedures and secure personal protective equipment (PPE). Marcarelli and the EHFD began to secure PPE in February 2020 after early reports of the virus to add to its normal cache of PPE for day-to-day use.

Marcarelli was concerned with the state’s supply of PPE and he and his department began to “think outside of the box” to adapt industrial masks typically used by auto-body repair shops and insulators, as well as partner with the Town of Wallingford Fire Department and other industrial vendors on cooperative purchases.

“It was obvious pretty early on that a strategic stockpile we had depended on was not maintained by the state and even after the state procurement team started to deliver PPE, most of it was not suitable for public safety use or expired and not usable,” said Marcarelli. “We had always been careful with body substance isolation being that over 85 percent of our work is in EMS response, so we knew we would be on the front lines of the pandemic. The initial mortality rates regarding COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic were alarming. If we looked at what was being predicted at the national level, plus East Haven’s census of vulnerable populations, we were very worried.”

After Marcarelli passed on the initial reports from health officials to personnel, he saw some of his senior members who had upwards of 25 years of service ready to retire. The EHFD’s staffing was also affected by members contracting COVID-19 or having to quarantine, which in turn, led to higher overtime costs to cover those shifts.

Despite the added costs of overtime and PPE procurement, Marcarelli found that the department realized savings in other areas, such as fuel and medical supplies as calls were down by about 1,000 compared to the prior year. The EHFD also received a $75,000 grant for PPE and applied for $275,000 in disaster funds cover personnel replacement and decontamination supplies.

“Despite who is sick or in quarantine, we still have a duty to respond,” said Marcarelli. “Fuel and medical supplies were not as costly during the last year because we found many people were not calling for routine medical assistance. They did not want to go to the Emergency Room, so they didn’t call 911.”

When calls were received, callers were asked to wait outside when possible in order to maintain social distancing. There were changes beyond responding to calls as well as working in a firehouse is a communal atmosphere that had to be adjusted to accommodate social distancing, including separating the dormitory, adjusting eating arrangements, and altering training routines. Wherever possible, administrative staff were assigned to work remotely.

“We spend a great deal of time decontaminating,” said Marcarelli. “Some of these changes may remain in place, but now 90 percent of our personnel have been vaccinated and recommendations are that we no longer need to stay separate.”

The EHPD also had to adjust its procedures and modify the way it investigated minor complaints. With an emphasis on officer and community safety, Lennon noted the EHPD had to “get creative in how we engaged our residents who were also learning how to manage the pandemic.”

Officers and staff were required to be outfitted with proper PPE. Residents reporting minor incidents in which only documentation was needed were encouraged to use the online reporting portal. Whenever possible, officers are making contact with complainants by phone in order to limit face-to-face contact and the EHPD has also made use of virtual platforms to continue to meet as an agency.

Like the EHFD, several members of the EHPD tested positive or had to quarantine due to exposure, leading to other officers needing to work more. Lennon has not only seen his officers and staff step up to fill in where needed, but they also maintained a positive attitude throughout a worldwide pandemic, putting the needs of the town first.

“Our officers have made many sacrifices during the pandemic due to unforeseen quarantines and absences due to personnel becoming infected with the virus. This undoubtably impacted their personal life and is a testament to how selfless our officers are when given the chance to chip in,” said Lennon. “Some of our own officers have experienced a great deal of loss at home, all while still putting their best foot forward for the town and our residents.

“If we can take anything positive away from our experience during this past year, it’s that we have shown how resilient we all are, as individuals and as a community,” added Lennon. “In a world where so much is uncertain and very little is under our control, it’s comforting to know we serve a community that sticks and works together toward a common goal.”

Marcarelli also saw his department “step up” throughout the pandemic as the EHFD took on the role of preparing to respond to the pandemic, being a point of contact for the health department, and coordinating town government to maintain continuity and services for the community.

“The fire department always steps up. It’s a great town service and there are great people doing the work,” said Marcarelli. “These were stressful times for all of us, the folks here at the fire department were engaged directly on a daily basis with sick folks we knew had COVID-19, exposed daily to the virus, and we saw some very sick people. EHFD personnel responded knowingly despite the risk, but the greater fear was what they could bring home with them.

“We will be better people for having experienced it, but we are good with only having to experience it once,” added Marcarelli. “Our department saw the pandemic in the homes of many people in a small town. Some folks we helped and others we could not and that loss has an impact on everyone. Firefighters look at things in an interesting perspective: They are paid or professional volunteers, but they do it because it’s a vocation and they step up when the town needs them to and this was no exception.”

Carfora has seen similar efforts from employees throughout the town. While the restrictions put in place by COVID presented challenges, he has seen town departments come together to work for the greater good of the community.

“Town workers are extremely dedicated to doing their jobs and to providing service, from public services to the public safety departments to those that keep Town Hall running, we have a group of true professionals that work to make sure the job gets done. They continued to work daily during the pandemic even when some of them were impacted at home by the virus or even losing loved ones. We’ve had an opportunity to work together closer than we would have in a normal situation.”

Along with providing regular services, the town worked with the United Way and the EHFD to deliver 600 food boxes, including 100 turkeys, during the holiday season. The mayor’s office has scheduled more than 600 East Haven residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the clinic held at the town’s Senior Center. The town organized vaccination clinics for our seniors and is now assisting in the transition to mass vaccination clinics.

The town saw unexpected costs of PPE and other cleaning and protective measures, but was able to realize savings through other areas that had to be reduced or closed due to executive orders, such as the senior center and recreational activities. The town has also received millions of dollars in state and federal aid relating to the pandemic.

“Right off the bat, we kept clear records of costs and expenses that were directly related to the pandemic so that we could make claim for such expenses when the state or federal government created programs for reimbursement, so we are now positioned well now that this legislation has been passed,” said Carfora. “From the pressure, we have actually grown and coming out of it, we have some great plans and a renewed vision for the future and we are looking forward to moving forward. Plans are underway to make sure that we can start to restore normalcy as soon as the new guidelines come from the governor and we expect this to be a great summer, especially since the vaccine is being distributed as rapidly as possible and we are transitioning from small local clinics to regional distribution clinics.”