Hot-spot travelers must check in

Air passengers from COVID-19 spike areas will have certification process upon arrival in Connecticut

Connecticut will soon implement a certification process for air travelers arriving from hot-spot states, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday, as the state fights to keep COVID-19 outside its borders to whatever extent possible.

Lamont said those travelers will be required to complete a form telling officials where they are coming from and where they plan to quarantine. The process will be formally announced by the end of the week, he said.

“When you get off the plane, you’re going to have to self-certify and [disclose] where you’re going to quarantine,” Lamont said. “Maybe there will be a state police officer nearby just to remind people how seriously we’re taking this. Then we can call in just to make sure you’re where you’re supposed to be when you quarantine.”

The governor said there is currently no plan to track travelers who enter the state by car.

Connecticut currently counts 19 states on its list of places from which travelers must quarantine, including Florida, Arizona, Texas and Delaware.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened fines for

those who don’t comply with a similar certification requirement. Lamont said he would consider doing the same if the certification process proves to be insufficient.

“Before you get on that plane in Miami Beach to come up to Bradley Airport, know that we will be asking you where to self-quarantine to make sure you are taking this seriously,” Lamont said. “Let’s see how that goes for a couple of weeks. If we find we still have a lot of leaks in the bucket, we can think about other disincentives to make sure people take it even more seriously.”

As Connecticut has continued to fend off a second surge of COVID-19 cases, the virus has spread rapidly in most other states across the country. Florida, where many Connecticut residents spend time, reported more than 12,000 cases Monday, after setting a record for any U.S. state with more than 15,000 in a day Sunday.

Still, flights from across the country continue to arrive at Bradley International Airport. On Monday alone, 13 flights were scheduled to land at Bradley from Florida, along with eight from Georgia, five from North Carolina, three from South Carolina and one from Texas, all of which are experiencing significant outbreaks.

State Sen. Matt Lesser, who had publicly urged Lamont to impose some sort of check-in at Bradley, applauded the governor’s announcement Monday.

“Governor Lamont is making the right call here,” Lesser said, in a statement. “Our progress in Connecticut has been hard-won, but domestic travel poses a major threat. At a time when other states are posting record infection totals, I hope Connecticut is able to roll this policy out swiftly.”

COVID-19 hospitalizations declined over the weekend, Lamont said, as Connecticut continues to hold off the coronavirus surge that have plagued other states.

The state recorded 223 new cases since Friday out of more than 30,000 tests, state numbers show, for a positivity rate of about 0.7%. There are now 74 residents hospitalized for COVID-19, down by three from Friday and down from nearly 2,000 at the state’s peak.

Lamont announced 23 more coronavirus-linked deaths, bringing the state’s total to 4,371. Of those 23, Lamont said, six had occurred over the weekend, while the other 17 had occurred earlier but were not previously reported.

Dr. Matthew Cartter, the state epidemiologist, said Monday he would guess there are 10 COVID-19 infections in the state for every confirmed case.

“We have about 500 new cases a week,” Cartter said. “So what that means is about 5,000 new infections, probably every week.”

Cartter noted that the coronavirus pandemic has not behaved the way influenza pandemics do, appearing in waves and diminishing in the summer.

“If you had said this to me back in March and April that we’d be seeing this level of transmission in July, I would have said I hope not,” he said.

Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, said contact tracers had reached out to more than 90% of patients who had tested positive in the past week, with a response rate of about 50%.

The state has averaged about 9,000 tests a day over the past seven days, down slightly from the previous week but up from prior weeks.