Covid Updates: Indemnification Order Expedited; UNH Agreement In Sight; 2 More Bella Vista Cases

The mayor and the Board of Alders are expediting a proposed order that would allow the city to enter into agreements with third parties that would allow those partners to help the city mitigate the spread of Covid-19 without taking on legal liability for the city’s actions.

Mayor Justin Elicker detailed that new proposed order during his daily coronavirus-related press briefing held Wednesday afternoon via the Zoom tele-conferencing app.

The mayor said the indemnification order in question, which can be read in full here, was designed in large part to allow the city to enter into an agreement with the University of New Haven whereby that private, West Haven-based university would house between 150 and 170 city police officers, firefighters, and other local emergency responders who need a place to stay in order to protect themselves and their families during the public health crisis.

“This was part of our negotiations with the University of New Haven,” Elicker (pictured) said about the proposed indemnification order. ​“It’s an understandable request and a pretty typical request. We’re asking them to house public safety employees, and they wanted us to indemnify them if there was any lawsuit related to that activity.”

He said he has spoken to Board of Alders leadership about the proposed order, and that the alders have agreed to expedite discussing and voting on the matter. The item is currently slated to be discussed Thursday at 5:30 p.m. by the City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) committee. The full Board of Alders then plans to vote on the proposed order during its subsequent meeting at 7:30 that night.

The explanatory title of the proposed order reads:

From the Mayor submitting an Order of the Board Alders authorizing (until September 27, 2020, unless otherwise amended or terminated by further action of the Board of Alders) the Mayor, with approval of Board of Alders leadership, to enter into such agreements as may be deemed necessary or desirable to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including such agreements that include indemnification of a party or parties thereto by the City of New Haven, provided, however that any such indemnification shall be limited to liability arising directly from actions of the City of New Haven, its officials or employees and where the indemnified party is not otherwise protected by the extension of governmental immunity afforded by statute, including without limitation, Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 28 – 13 and 28 – 2, and further provided that the City has first exhausted all reasonable efforts to seek extension of immunity from the State of Connecticut to said third party.

Click here for an explainer provided by the mayor’s office to the Office of Legislative Services on what the indemnification clause is and how it works.

The proposed order would also allow the city to enter into other coronavirus-related indemnification agreements with other organizations, Elicker said. He said he city does not yet have any other such partners definiteively lined up for a similar agreement.

Others updates included:

• The mayor and city Health Director Maritza Bond (pictured) said that New Haven now has 133 confirmed positive Covid-19 cases. ​“As always, that number is probably not fully accurate” due to the sustained relative inaccessibility of testing, Elicker said. He said that three of those cases are residents of the Bella Vista senior apartment complex. All three of those residents are currently hospitalized and are not back at the roughly 2,000 unit complex.

Elicker also said that a second city firefighter recently tested positive for Covid-19, and that the city is still waiting to get the remaining test results back from Yale New Haven Hospital for other local firefighters who have been tested for the novel coronavirus.

• Bond said that in Hartford County, not in New Haven, an infant recently died after contracting Covid-19. ​“This is not just affecting the elderly,” she stressed. ​“We are in community-wide spread.” She urged everyone to not leave their homes unless it’s absolutely necessary, to practice social distancing, and to spend as little time as possible physically close to people who are or might be positive for the virus. ​“Please follow the precautions,” she said.

• Elicker said that the Southern Connecticut State University ​“Covid-19 step-down site” established in partnership with the National Guard may be able to open as soon as Friday. He said that site is designed to ​“decompress the acute care hospitals to maximize room for the acutely ill.” Intermediate care will be provided at this site, he said.

• New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey (pictured) and Bond said that the public school system and the health department have met to discuss how best to protect lunch aides, security guards, and custodial staff who are still on the job during this pandemic. Bond said that some of the new protective measures her office has recommended the school system adopt include pre-screening individuals before they come to work for the day, carefully monitoring the discarding of trash and disposal of gloves, and encouraging workers to stay home if they’re feeling sick.

• Board of Education President Yesenia Rivera (pictured) said that the school system has distributed close to 50,000 free meals since the crisis began, as well as over 7,000 chromebooks to allow students to participate in online learning. ​“While the rollout has not been perfect, please be patient,” she said.

• When asked about the planned 75-bed shelter for homeless people who test positive for Covid-19 but do not require hospitalization that is to be located at Hill Regional Career High School, Elicker said, ​“We’re getting close. We have had an incredible response from the Medical Reserve Corps and are working to process the volunteer submissions that people have provided.”