Lamont: Coronavirus hospitalizations beginning to surge

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Connecticut climbed to 1,291, Gov. Ned Lamont said Friday. Six more people have died, bringing the total to 27, and 48 people have been hospitalized since yesterday, which Lamont called “the beginning of the surge.”

The 279 new cases made up about 15 percent of 1,900 new tests completed in the last day, Lamont said. The large number of tests is because many results came in from out-ofstate labs, he said.

Patients are 10 times as likely to be hospitalized if they are over the age of 80 than if they are under 50, he said. A total of 173 people have been hospitalized in the state.

Less than 24 hours after announcing a loan program for small businesses, the state has already paused on accepting new applications, Lamont said. More than 2,500 businesses have applied for the no-interest loans, which were initially expected to be about $25 million total. “I think we’re probably going to double the capacity,” to $50 million, he said.

Jeffrey Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, said modeling indicates an expected peak in the second week of April.

Some of the equipment the state has requested has been delayed, Lamont said; 3,000 thermometers that have been ordered are expected to arrive next week, while some of the surgical gowns and other equipment ordered won’t arrive until next month. “We’ve got to take care of what we can take care of ourselves,” he said. It’s not clear whether that equipment was overpromised by the suppliers, or if someone “came in with a higher bid.”

Lamont praised the donations of equipment, and the ingenuity of people and companies making their own masks for healthcare workers.

Currently, the state has 932 ventilators across hospital systems, chief operating officer Josh Geballe said. Another 1,500 ventilators have been requested from the national stockpile in two separate, still unanswered, requests.

Flaks said hospitals in the state are piloting an innovation already being used in New York that allows one ventilator to be used for two patients.

Connecticut officials denounced discrimination against Asian Americans, which they say has increased due to misinformation and xenophobia stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.

The Commissions on Equity and Opportunity, Human Rights and Opportunities and on Women, Children and Seniors, along with Attorney General William Tong and Sen. Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) held a virtual press conference to raise awareness of the issue Friday.

“We call for unity in the face of coronavirus (COVID-19) and condemn racism and discrimination targeting Asian Americans — or anybody for that matter — related to the pandemic,” commission co-chair Alan Tan said in a statement. “We are deeply concerned that recent incidents of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans in Connecticut threaten both our collective wellbeing and ability to manage this crisis.”

He said the Commission has received reports of cyberbullying, violent attacks and discrimination against Asian Americans and Asian American- owned businesses.

Tong calls for lift of research restrictions

Tong and 14 other attorneys general have asked the federal government to lift restrictions on fetal tissue research, which they say will help respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Scientists need every single tool available to find a vaccine and cure for COVID-19,” Tong said in a statement. “For years, fetal tissue research contributed to major medical advancements. We need to lift this partisan impediment and let scientists get to work.”

The Trump administration in June 2019 ended fetal tissue research at the National Institutes of Health, canceled a $2 million contract for a California university laboratory project and announced that research projects conducted at other universities with NIH funding would be reviewed by an ethics advisory board before being renewed. Fetal tissue is obtained from elective abortions.

The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement at the time that “promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration. The restriction was criticized by scientists who said it would jeopardize research on diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, HIV and spinal cord injuries.

Tong and the other attorneys general, from states including Massachusetts and New York, argue in their letter to the department and President Donald Trump that “if we are going to rise as a Nation to overcome this pandemic, then we need to utilize all the tools in our toolbox, including allowing our scientists to develop a vaccine and treatment to COVID-19. This means we need to permit research on all fronts.” They wrote that they support NIH scientists who are appealing the ban.

Plastic bag backlash

A day after Gov. Ned Lamont suspended the 10-cent tax on plastic bags, an environmental group criticized him for caving to “industry pressure.”

Lamont lifted the tax and ordered that supermarket employees cannot be required to use customers’ reusable bags, citing concerns from “employees of many retail establishments.”

“The decision to suspend the 10 cent fee on single-use plastic bags is based on political science, not public health science,” Louis Rosado Burch, Connecticut Program Director for the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “This is a time to base policy decisions on good science, and not succumb to the plastic industry’s efforts to capitalize on this pandemic for their own benefit.”

Burch said that single-use plastic bags “are in no way sterile or resistant to viruses and bacteria,” and argued there is no proof that reusable bags contribute to transmitting COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “it may be possible” to get COVID-19 from a surface that has the virus on it, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.” Researchers from the NIH recently found that the virus can live on surfaces like plastic and stainless steel for up to two to three days.

Governors in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have already prohibited the use of reusable bags during the outbreak.