Lamont: Connecticut could turn corner soon
STAMFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont expects November to be a crucial period for Connecticut — and not just because of the election.
The penultimate month of the year will also be a barometer of the state’s ability to continue containing COVID-19 while advancing with its economic re-opening, the second-year governor said Wednesday during a keynote speech at the Stamford Chamber of Commerce’s 33rd annual meeting.
Despite upticks in hospitalizations and infections in the past few weeks, Connecticut’s levels of coronavirus spread remain among the lowest in the country.
“I’d like to think by the end of November we’re going to know if we’re turning the corner on this pandemic,” Lamont said in a video-conference appearance to a group of about 20 assembled at the Residence Inn by Marriott in downtown Stamford.
Nearly seven months after the state recorded its first coronavirus case, about 98 percent of Connecticut’s economy has re-opened, according to Lamont, who was speaking from Hartford.
“Probably about 88 percent” of the state’s prepandemic gross domestic product has returned, while unemployment is “somewhere between 12 percent and 13 percent,” he said.
On Oct. 8, the state will enter the third phase of its re-opening. Capacities for indoor and outdoor venues will increase, although some establishments such as bars will remain closed.
Lamont also cited a number of programs that have supported residents and businesses in the past few months. Separately on Wednesday, he announced the extension of the state’s moratorium on evictions to the end of the year and a doubling in funding, to $40 million, for the Temporary
Rental Housing Assistance Program.
Since an initial surge in cases in March and April, Connecticut’s relatively low coronavirus incidence in the past few months has underpinned its re-opening. In the past week, its positive rate among tested cases has run at 1.15 percent compared with a high of nearly 36 percent between April
19 and April 25, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
The state is now doing about
100,000 virus tests per week, according to Lamont. He expects the state to receive next week its first shipment of five-minute tests from Abbott Laboratories.
“That’s a big deal for a couple of reasons: A, it’s a lot less intrusive and a lot easier to administer,” Lamont said. “(And) you won’t have to send it off to a lab to get a result in a couple of days. You’ll get a result in 90 seconds. … Those are the types of changes that make November a transformative month.”
Lamont anticipates that a coronavirus vaccine will not “really be available” before the end of 2020 and “probably not widely available” until the second quarter of 2021.
“We’ve got to do a job of convincing people that when it’s available we’ll only release it when it’s safe and effective,” Lamont said. “As you probably know, there’s an awful lot of vaccine hesitancy.”
In his own speech, fellow Dem
ocrat and Stamford Mayor David Martin praised Lamont’s handling of the state’s response to the pandemic. Martin said that local governments such as Stamford have cooperated well with state agencies in recent months, contributing to the containment of the virus in the city. Stamford is recording around four to six cases per day, according to Martin.
“We still have coronavirus. I have budget challenges that are ongoing, negotiations with unions. There are all sorts of difficulties,” Martin told the inperson attendees, who sat at widely spaced tables in a meeting room. “But I tell you we’re doing better than I thought we’d be doing. … I’m feeling like we can get there.”
Among the Chamber of Com
merce’s award recipients, Stamford Health, which includes Stamford Hospital, was named the company of the year.
At the peak of the spring surge, Stamford Health was caring for about 150 patients hospitalized with coronavirus, according to Dr. Rohit Bhalla, the system’s chief quality and clinical officer, who accepted the award. In the past few weeks, it has seen typically fewer than five COVID-19 hospitalizations at the same time.
“This demonstrates, in part, how prudent public health measures and collaboration can benefit Stamford and its surrounding towns,” Bhalla said. “I look forward to the day when we are speaking about the pandemic in the past tense. Until then, we are proud to be a part of the business community in getting through this together.”
Brad Lupinacci, a vice president of commercial banking at Stamford-based First County Bank, was named member of the year. The bank has distributed more than 1,200 loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program that total about $125 million, according to Lupinacci. He said those loans have helped to save about 12,000 jobs.
“It’s been a tough time for many businesses during the pandemic,” Lupinacci said. “At First County Bank, we’ve been very busy over the last six months and doing our best to support the businesses in Stamford and surrounding areas. … It’s going to take all of us to get through this.”