State hospitalizations decline
Trend now extended for week, but Lamont says two-week drop required for restrictions to relax
COVID-19 hospitalizations are continuing to decrease in Connecticut, a trend that has now extended for a week, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday.
“I think this is all relatively good news in terms of what we are trying to accomplish,” the governor said.
Coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths continue to increase in Connecticut, however. The state reported 455 new cases
Wednesday, bringing the total to 26,767 since the pandemic began and reported 79 additional deaths, bringing that total to 2,168. Hospitalizations declined by 41 to 1,691.
Lamont acknowledged that residents who have been largely stuck inside their homes since March may be experiencing cabin fever but reiterated that busi
nesses that have been closed due to the pandemic cannot reopen until it is safe to do so. Lamont has said a two-week decline in hospitalizations is a prerequisite for any COVID-19 restrictions to be relaxed.
“We cannot open too soon, please believe me,” said Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, who contracted the coronavirus earlier this month and has since recovered. “This is a highly contagious virus … we need to be careful in every step we take.
“Let’s work together to continue to social distance, continue to wear face coverings and not pressure people to open. Let’s do it once, let’s do it right.”
Lamont Wednesday invited Marconi and state Rep. Jane Garibay, D-Windsor, to his daily press briefing to discuss their experiences with the virus.
In other news:
t A Department of Correction inmate died Tuesday from COVID-19, officials said. The inmate, a 74-year-old man who was not identified, was most recently housed at Osborn Correctional Institution, but was receiving treatment at UConn Health since April 19. He was serving a life sentence for murder and is this third inmate to die of COVID-19 in DOC custody.
t The Channel 3 Kids Camp board of directors announced it has canceled its overnight and day camp this summer.
t UConn President Thomas Katsouleas said during a board of trustees meeting Wednesday that the university would celebrate a virtual commencement on May 9. The event will be streamed on the university’s YouTube channel.
Small businesses could reopen in weeks
With overall hospitalizations continuing to drop, Lamont said some small businesses could begin to reopen in several weeks, as long as measures like social distancing can be followed.
“Let’s think about all those Main Street businesses we can open up safely,” he said Wednesday.
“Safely means you can wear the mask, have the social distancing. So a lot of those retail stores on Main Street — the toy store in Middletown, the shoe store — makes sense if we can do it that in an appropriate way.”
Lamont said he would be relying on advice from his Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, which is scheduled to make a presentation Thursday.
“The task force will be guiding my decision,” Lamont said, before adding that in his initial conversations with the group he has shared his preference that small businesses, with the proper precautions in place, be among the first allowed to reopen.
Lamont has ordered schools and nonessential businesses closed through at least May 20.
Hospitalizations rise in eastern Connecticut
Overall declines in COVID-19 cases at hospitals across the state suggest a peak in hospitalizations has come and gone, although experts said the virus has yet to pass completely through eastern Connecticut, where the infection rate has been relatively low.
“There were a little over 1,970 cases and that peaked on April 21,” Dr. Tom Balcezak, chief clinical officer for the Yale New Haven Health System said Wednesday. “I hope that is the peak. It has been coming steadily down since then. And we are now today at a little over 1,600 cases in hospitals across Connecticut. So we are seeing this curve start to fall a little bit.”
Balezak and others at the Yale system said that COVID patient counts at their hospitals from New Haven through hard-hit Fairfield County have begun to show consistent drops in admissions. The exception they said is at the other end of the state, in New London County, where there is a delayed uptick in COVID admissions as viral infections reach eastern Connecticut after tracking out of New York and along the I-95 corridor.
The COVID-19 hospitalization rate at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London and at Westerly Hospital in Rhode Island had been flat and relatively insignificant, said Patrick Green, CEO of both institutions. There were 30 COVID-19 positive patents in the New London hospital Wednesday morning and five in Westerly, he said.
Elsewhere in the Yale system, patient counts continued to fall at what have been the state’s hardesthit hospitals. Greenwich Hospital had about 70 COVID-19 cases, its lowest total in a month. At one point the 200-bed hospital was caring for 110 COVID-19 patients, said Marna Borgstrom, the Yale system CEO.
Bridgeport Hospital experienced a dramatic spike in COVID-19 admissions two weeks ago, but the number had fallen to below 200 cases Wednesday morning, Borgstrom said.
The Yale officials attributed the declines to the public’s embrace of social distance and other mitigation efforts, without which they said hospitals might have been overwhelmed by COVID cases. They also warned against easing mitigation efforts too soon.
Restaurants propose safety measures
In a messaged called “The Connecticut Restaurant Promise,” local eateries have committed to upholding safety and sanitary measures to keep residents safe as the state mulls when to fully reopen the establishments.
“As Connecticut is now planning how best to begin reopening businesses and reopening its economy, we want the public to know that local restaurants are taking our role and our responsibility seriously when it comes to protecting public health,” said Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, in a statement.
Among the efforts outlined in the “promise” were commitments to continued sanitation, establishing protocols for monitoring staff health and following distancing guidelines with all indoor and outdoor seating.
In return, the restaurants are asking customers to stay home if they are ill or seek contact-less delivery if they have underlying medical conditions.
Hartford HealthCare to open testing site
Hartford HealthCare rolled out mobile coronavirus testing on Wednesday by testing 105 people who live and work at Open Hearth, a Hartford homeless shelter that has remained open during the pandemic.
The health network also plans to open a new testing site in the North End of Hartford, which will increase its capacity to about 700 tests per day in the city, president and CEO Jeffrey Flaks said.
More sites are also planned in Mystic, Westport, Newington and Enfield as the network tries to respond to the areas of greatest need and close health gaps for communities of color.
“We often talk about returning to normal when we get to the other side of the COVID-19 crisis,” Flaks said. “When we look at health equity in the state of Connecticut, we are not looking to return to normal — we are looking to be better. We are looking to make important advances and improvements because there are clearly lessons being learned.”
The mobile operation will change locations every day, but started at the Charter Oak Avenue men’s shelter because people experiencing homelessness and living in other congregate settings, such as nursing homes, are at greater risk of contracting the virus and have greater difficulty traveling to local hospitals for testing, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said.
The shelter’s executive director, Marilyn Rossetti, is also a Hartford city councilwoman.
“Testing is the way we’re really going to turn this around,” she said. “Today really will make a difference.”
Local virus recovery committees planned
Bolstering the state’s efforts to address the perceived aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced the creation of another task force to head the formation of local recovery committees in the state’s 169 towns and cities.
“There are a lot of folks that were hit and hit hard, there are lot of seniors who are maybe quarantining, there are a lot of folks who have perhaps some distress or anguish and mental health issues,” Lamont said. “We are trying to put together committees in each of our local communities to look out for those people.”
The aim is to have municipal leaders pick a point person who will form these committees with various residents, including educators, faith-based leader, politicians and members of the nonprofit sector.
“In order to have a successful economic recovery after this catastrophe of COVID-19 … we are going to rebuild at the local level,” said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who was tapped to lead the state effort.
Top state officials likened these organizations to the local efforts to respond to major storms like Superstorm Sandy, which caused significant damage economically.
“Those groups will work with our state’s long-term recovery partners, their legislators and our federal partners to maximize funding to make sure that community needs are met,” Bysiewicz said.