The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Mayor: City preparing for coronavirus spread
MIDDLETOWN — The mayor is using strong language to convey the urgency of a possible wide outbreak of coronavirus reaching the city, saying health officials expect the illness to begin spreading within a week in Connecticut.
He did so as Gov. Ned Lamont signed declarations Tuesday enacting civil preparedness and public health emergencies to address the COVID-19 outbreak. The emergencies will allow for the state agencies to react quickly to the coronavirus.
The governor made the announcement on Twitter is advance of his news conference in the William A. O’Neill State Armory.
“We are at a point right now, where, if community transmission is not taking place — meaning if it is not already spreading in Connecticut — top state health officials anticipate we are about a week away from that scenario,” Florsheim said in a Facebook live broadcast.
He went on to explain the illness can be transmitted by microscopic droplets of fluid produced by coughing or sneezing, and is not necessarily contractible in the open air “as far scientists have been able to determine.”
“That means there are things you don’t have to worry about very much, but it is extremely, extremely, extremely contagious,” he emphasized. “The person-to-person contagion rate is the main reason why this is spreading so quickly.”
He is in constant contact with local and state emergency response personnel, as well as the governor’s office, Florsheim said.
“This is going to be a rapidly evolving situation,” he said, urging people who believe they have symptoms to call their physician immediately upon realizing a fever, cough and shortness of breath, and not show up at a doctor’s office unannounced.
State health officials said there are two confirmed cases of Connecticut residents being diagnosed with COVID-19, including a Wilton man between 40 and 50 under medical supervision at Danbury Hospital. He’s suspected of getting coronavirus while in California. He was confirmed to have the illness over the weekend, according to Lamont.
The second, a female in her 60s from Bethlehem who is believed to have contracted the virus in Nevada, tested positive Monday, Lamont said on Twitter Tuesday. She is receiving treatment at Bridgeport Hospital.
Also, seven Trinity College students are being self-quarantined in the case they were exposed to coronavirus offcampus outside the area.
Two New York residents were diagnosed last week with the illness, a Danbury Hospital employee and a doctor who worked at Bridgeport Hospital.
In late January, a Wesleyan University student was tested after returning from a trip to Asia and was suffering from a fever and cough. The individual was in isolation until test results were returned as negative.
Wesleyan is monitoring the global coronavirus emergency and its potential impacts on the campus community, officials announced on the website. “The Wesleyan Emergency Response Team is actively managing our readiness and response to the epidemic as a rapidly evolving situation. Health and safety continue to be the university’s top priorities in our decision-making and support.”
A meeting at Macdonough Elementary School with state Department of Transportation officials intended to inform the public about ongoing work and traffic congestion as a result of the twoyear project to repair the Arrigoni Bridge is now going to be live streamed on Florsheim’s Facebook page, he said late Tuesday.
The move is in response to state officials advising the cancellation of any public gathering of 100 or more people in an effort to prevent spread of the disease.
The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring an informational forum, “Coronavirus: Understand the Facts, Misinformation and the Public Health Response,” Thursday at the Courtyard by Marriott Cromwell, 4 Sebethe Drive, from 8 to 10 a.m.
During the event, presented by Middlesex Health, four expert panelists will give attendees the facts of the virus and an opportunity to ask questions.
The Middletown Public School District has been preparing for the event of an outbreak for about four weeks by way of an all-hazard pandemic plan, Director of Fine Arts and District Operations Marco Gaylord said.
The schools are enacting “best practices” protocol, which involves hand washing, containment of coughs and sneezes, and cleaning of the facility as well as shared spaces, learning apparatus and toys, Gaylord said. Parents are asked to keep their children home if they fall ill, and to seek medical attention if necessary.
Any classroom without a sink will be outfitted with hand sanitizers, he said.
“It’s a constant. It’s changing as we get more information and talk to health officials,” Gaylord said.
Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Andrew Mais is urging all health insurance companies and health care centers to cover the costs of any novel coronavirus disease testing and/or treatment, according to state Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown.
At Regional School District 17 in Haddam and Killingworth, Superintendent of Schools Holly Hageman sent an email to parents Monday night, updating them on efforts being made by the administration.
Head football coach Erik Becker sent an email to players and parents Tuesday, announcing the Pequot weight-lifting competition scheduled for Saturday at North Branford High School will not take place.
School principals have been giving daily reminders through morning announcements about proper hand washing, covering for sneeze and cough, and throwing away tissues in trash in the effort to maintain good hygiene, she said. Staff are encouraging students to wash hands, and are allowing for additional visits to bathrooms for the purpose of hand washing, Hageman said.
The custodial staff has placed a priority on cleaning high-touch surfaces (bathroom faucet handles, door knobs, desks, hand rails, and have ensured all classrooms are stocked with tissues. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers have been distributed to school areas where soap and water is not directly accessible, Hageman added.
She urged students who exhibit symptoms to stay home.
The HK-HS Student Television Network field trip to Washington, D.C., this week was canceled as a precaution. The eighth-grade visit to D.C. in late April is in place, however, staff are looking into the option of postponing the trip to late May, Hageman said.
If the district were to cancel school in the future, plans being made would allow students to do classwork via the internet, Hageman added. Anyone without access to the web is being asked to complete a confidential survey by Thursday to provide alternate methods for instruction.
The Centers for Disease Control has gathered all information about coronavirus at its website, which can be accessed at cdc.gov.