COVID-19 IN CONNECTICUT
Officials: 415 residents, including 2 from Berlin, have tested positive By Matthew Zabierek and Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Last week, a 48-year-old Meriden man also tested positive for the virus. According to the state Department of Health, 415 residents had tested positive statewide as of 7:15 p.m. Monday night. Those cases included three Southington residents, two Berlin residents, and one
YMCAs close indefinitely in response to virus By Devin Leith-Yessian and Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
All YMCA locations in the greater Meriden area will be closed indefinitely as officials seek to slow down the spread of the coronavirus.
A 72-year-old Meriden woman has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the second city resident to test positive, officials said Monday. The case was confirmed Monday afternoon, city spokeswoman Belen Michelis said. No additional information was available about the woman’s condition or who she may have come in contact with.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
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Volume 22, Number 4
The closures of the YMCA branches in Meriden, Wallingford, Cheshire and Southington were made last week in compliance with
Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders restricting the operations of restaurants, bars, movie theaters and gyms. John Benigni, CEO of the Meriden-New Britain-Berlin YMCA, said his organization contemplated closing before Lamont’s decree in response to a decline in members using the facility since the outbreak. See YMCA, A14
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. Courtesy of CDC
Plainville resident. Health officials won’t be working to trace people who may have come into contact with the three new coronavirus patients
from Southington confirmed over the weekend. Shane Lockwood, Plainville-Southington ReSee Positive, A9
The Meriden YMCA on West Main Street.
Primary postponed, questions remain about absentee ballots By Lauren Takores Record-Journal staff
Denise Merrill said in a Thursday, March 19 social media post that she consultThe Secretary of the State’s ed with Gov. Ned Lamont, office announced last local election officials, state week that Connecticut’s legislators and election offipresidential primary election cials in other states. has been postponed to June “My most important con2 to impede the spread of cerns are allowing every coronavirus. The original Connecticut voter to make date was April 28.
their voice heard in the selection of the presidential candidates,” she said, “and ensuring that they are able to cast their ballots as safely as possible.” Merrill had previously called for town clerks to issue absentee ballots to voters wanting to avoid congregat-
ing at polling places. “Moving the primary date is a good first step,” Merrill said, “and will give our local election officials more time to prepare.” Under state law, voters utilizing absentee ballots are supposed to meet certain
criteria, such as being out of town on Election Day or having a sickness or physical disability. Voters already can request absentee ballots under state law because of illness, but not fear of catching an illSee Primary, A13