State surpasses 10 million mark on coronavirus tests

Connecticut surpassed 10 million COVID-19 tests on Thursday, a milestone in the coronavirus pandemic which has stretched 17 months and has lately entered a new chapter with the threat of the highly contagious Delta variant.

The state’s daily report showed 10,022,271 tests completed, an average of 2.8 tests for every man, woman and child in the state since March, 2020.

That compares with slightly less that one-half of one test, on average, for Americans as a nation — meaning Connecticut residents have had 5.7 times more tests per person than the United States as a whole.

At the peak last winter, the multiple testing sites by multuple health providers exceeded 1 million per month — making Connecticut a standout in tests per resident.

“Throughout the pandemic, Connecticut has been one of the top five states in the nation in terms of testing and it certainly helped us through last fall, last winter, keep close tabs of where there were hot spots around the state and helped ensure that everyone who felt sick was able to quickly get tested,” said Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer, who oversaw the system.

The large number of tests means Connecticut’s total number of documented cases, 357,345 as of Thursday, represents a larger share of actual cases than other states’ totals. Geballe and other state officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont, have been quick to point out that we can’t compare illness totals from states that have different test rates.

How does the testing break down by the numbers? How many of the 10 million were antibody tests, or other types? How

many people never had a test? The state Department of Public Health did not respond to requests for information about the Connecticut testing program.

Certain populations, such as nursing home residents and workers, correction department personnel and members of the governor’s staff, were required to get regularly tested because of their jobs. In all, thousands of state residents endured dozens of tests, perhaps even hundreds — often, especially early on, involving an uncomfortable swab up their noses.

Major companies such as submarine builder Electric Boat in Groton initiated their own testing programs, in some cases aggressively.

With 3.6 million residents averaging 2.8 tests each, and many having far more than that, it’s clear that many Connecticut residents have only been tested once, or never at all.

Demand for testing is up nationally since July as the Delta variant surges in many areas across the country and as more businesses and workplaces are requiring proof of a negative test. Connecticut is also seeing an uptick in people getting tested, with about 116,000 tests over the last week, compared with about 104,000 in the last full week of June.

Hitting ten million tests in Connecticut is “a noteworthy milestone representing a tremendous amount of hard work that was done at a number of different state agencies,” Geballe said, adding the state “stood up the entire program from scratch.”

At the start of the pandemic, states scrambled to build up testing capacity to detect the level of infection within their borders and to curb further spread. With supplies limited early on, officials advised only people who were symptomatic or knew they were exposed to the virus to get tested.

In May 2020, Connecticut ramped up testing, entering contracts with labs and hospitals to monitor the level of infection in frontline workers and to set up emergency clinics in communities to contain localized outbreaks.

The ten vendors performed 1.4 million tests in total from May 2020 to May 2021, primarily serving high risk residents and those in underserved communities, followed by frontline state employees including corrections officers, and staff at the state’s social service agencies and group homes, according to a report from the comptroller’s office. The state paid $90.86 per test on average, the report shows.

Connecticut averaged one million tests per month between October 2020 and April 2021, when the state opened vaccinations to all residents 18 and older. Testing slowed sharply this spring and summer.

Some of Connecticut’s largest testing sites, set up in parking lots and elsewhere, were shut down at the end of June amid weakened demand with low infection and hospitalization rates and more than two-thirds of Connecticut residents at least partially vaccinated.