The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Experts: Biden COVID plan will benefit state
As the state reached 100,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday, Connecticut health experts believe Presidentelect Joe Biden will make a difference even though there has been a fairly aggressive approach to the pandemic here.
“Although our state has fared well with mitigation efforts, Connecticut does not exist in a bubble,” said Jacqueline Vernarelli, assistant professor in Sacred Heart University’s public health program and director of research education. “Any improvement in the national response to COVID-19 will benefit us locally.”
Others echoed those thoughts, including Angela Mattie, Quinnipiac University professor of management and medical sciences, and the director of the longterm care and compliance programs for the university’s schools of business and medicine.
“What happens in the nation and in neighboring
states affects our state,” she said.
Though Connecticut is still in better shape than many areas of the country, cases and hospitalizations have steadily increased in recent weeks.
Connecticut has now recorded 99,381 COVID-19 cases after more than 2,300 were reported Thursday
with a daily positivity rate of nearly 7 percent. The state’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 5.8 percent.
The recent surge has spurred Gov. Ned Lamont to roll back reopening plans to Phase 2, which, among other things, reduced capacity in restaurants and closed dining areas by 10 p.m.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have said one of their primary goals will be fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The incoming administration has already assembled a COVID response team with Connecticut ties, including Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University associate professor of internal medicine, public health and management and founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center.
Biden has said he plans to address the pandemic in multiple ways, such as increasing testing and mandating masks.
Many of Biden’s plans mirror what Connecticut has already implemented, said Gayle Alberda, an assistant professor of politics and director of the Masters of Public Administration Program at Fairfield University.
“Connecticut is more aggressively addressing the pandemic compared to other states,” she said. “In this sense, certain things wouldn’t change for Nutmeggers like mask mandates. If Biden successfully convinces other governors to issue mask mandates, this would likely result in a reduced number of cases and hospitalizations.”
Alberda pointed out most of the areas on Connecticut’s travel advisory list have high COVID rates, and said, “a successful negotiation with other governors on a mask mandate could mean these states lower their rates, and thus are removed from this list.”
However, she said, mask wearing has been so politicized, Biden might have a hard time getting some governors on board with such a mandate.
But Alberda expects the new administration will have an easier time increasing testing and making more personal protective equipment available.
“I highly doubt any governor would be unwelcoming of more testing, more PPE, or additional resources to help their state with the pandemic,” she said.
Despite Connecticut’s aggressive approach to COVID, Vernarelli said the virus has disproportionately affected communities of color here, just as it has throughout the country. She said the addition of NunezSmith — whose projects have included research to reduce discrimination in health care — to Biden’s COVID response team should help address this issue.
“(Nunez-Smith) will be able to guide us locally and nationally on strategies that can successfully reduce this discrepancy,” Vernarelli said.
Overall, most experts were hopeful about what the Biden-Harris administration would mean for COVID response in Connecticut.
“The Biden administration’s focus on improving testing and tracing will enable our state to improve our local COVID response,” Vernarelli said. “More testing and more support for contact tracing will help to limit the spread.”