Hospitalizations down statewide for 10th day
Still, Connecticut reports 97 new COVID-19 deaths, and officials urge proper social distancing at capacity state parks
Connecticut saw 97 new COVID-19 deaths and more than 500 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, statistics released Saturday show, but hospitalizations continued a downward trend for the 10th straight day.
The update from the governor’s office shows that the net hospitalizations dropped 41 from Friday, a key metric as state officials consider reopening parts of Connecticut’s shuttered economy later this month.
The decrease in hospitalizations since Friday marks 10 days that Connecticut hospitals have released more patients than they have admitted for COVID-19, but 1,551 people remain hospitalized with at least 500 hospital cases in Fairfield and New Haven counties.
More than 100,000 tests have been administered with nearly one-third testing positive for the virus, the statistics from the state show. A total of 2,436 state residents have died from the virus.
Some state parks reach capacity as officials urge social distancing during warm weekend
State officials kept a close eye on state parks Saturday, closing nearly a dozen by the afternoon, and will continue to do so as people leave their homes seeking fresh air during a warm, clear weekend.
Officials with the Department of Energy and Enviromental Protection plan to continue to keep an eye on crowds Sunday with temperatures expected to be in the mid-70s.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection closed the following state parks Saturday because the parking areas were at capacity:
► Sleeping Giant in Hamden.
► C.P. Huntington in Newtown, Bethel and Redding.
► Bluff Point in Groton.
► Wadsworth Falls in Middletown.
► Devil’s Hopyard in East Haddam.
► Southford Falls in Southbury.
► Lovers Leap in New Milford.
► Penwood in Bloomfield.
► Talcott Mountain in Simsbury.
► Harkness Memorial in Waterford.
► George Waldo in Southbury.
DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said park staff have reduced parking capacity at some parks to ensure they do not become too crowded. She urged people looking for a place to hike to consider other places in the park system that are not as crowded.
“This is a great time to discover new parks,” she said.
Dykes also urged park visitors to bring along face masks in case they encounter groups along trails and in parking lots and are not able to observe social distancing.
“We expect to see more folks coming out now that the weather is nice and getting nicer,” she said. “We’re inviting folks to come and enjoy the parks either by yourself or with members of your family.” Groups should be five people or fewer, Dykes said.
Similar recommendations were made by officials in cities and towns across the state. Along the shoreline, officials said they would be monitoring beaches through the weekend to ensure people were properly social distancing.
Connecticut National Guard delivers testing materials to nursing homes
As COVID-19 continues to impact nursing homes, a small group of the Connecticut National Guard delivered testing kits and supplies to a half-dozen facilities across the state Saturday.
The 375 kits went to nursing home facilities in Hartford, Meriden, Waterford, New Haven, Niantic and Fairfield, the National Guard said.
Recent statistics from the state show that roughly half of all the COVID-19 deaths have been people living in nursing facilities.
The National Guard has also deployed members to help the state Department of Public Health to inspect and review nursing facilities across the state.
Officials with the National Guard said new saliva-based tests were also distributed Saturday along with the traditional test kits so they can test whether or not saliva testing works to identify the virus.
Mayor Luke Bronin tells residents to ‘err on the side of caution’ and seek testing
In a tele-town hall meeting Saturday, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said a partnership between state agencies, health care industries and the city has removed barriers and increased access to testing for COVID-19 at a time when more than 1,100 people have confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the city.
“I think we’ve all been incredibly frustrated with the testing ramp up across the country. I don’t think there is a question, as a country, we were too slow and the federal government really dropped the ball in controlling the supply chain,” Bronin said.
Bronin said the initial requirements for testing, including serious symptoms, contact with people with COVID-19 and travel history, are not essential anymore to get tested.
“It’s much, much easier to get tested. So I want to ask everyone to err on the side of caution. If you think you might have a reason to get tested, either you have mild symptoms or you don’t have symptoms but you think you might have been exposed to somebody or you work at a place where a lot of people come through … you can almost certainly get tested now,” Bronin said.