The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Dems have doubts about reopening plan
Senate lawmakers, led by medical doctor, have questions amid fears of reviving virus
Half of the 22-member Democratic majority in the state Senate have doubts about the way Gov. Ned Lamont is moving toward the reopening of the state and said Thursday that if tougher health guidelines aren’t adopted, the state could quickly increase the infection rate after the first phase of the governor’s reopening occurs on May 20.
In a letter to the governor, the 11 lawmakers warned that while the hospitalization rate has been going down steadily, it is merely one indicator, while the state’s testing rate could be inadequate in detecting outbreaks. They said that random samples of people in both cities and suburbs are needed, as well as grocery shoppers, hospital workers and essential manufacturers that have been operating during the pandemic.
The lawmakers also are concerned about the state’s ability to test people as they
“Tears were shed over the decision, some of my own included.” Durham First Selectwoman Laura Francis
return to work and trace contacts of people who test positive for COVID-19 in the days ahead.
The group asked that Lamont provide better guidance for businesses, including the creation of a team of specialists available by phone to discuss individual strategies to reduce the possible spread of the coronavirus.
In response, Lamont said he has been keeping lawmakers in the loop on plans and decisions.
“I think they should listen to our briefings here,” Lamont said during an early afternoon news conference from the State Capitol. “Can we always do more? Yeah. I appreciate the ongoing concern that people have, but I think we’ve got the right balance going forward, right now. I think you have a sense that we put public health and public safety first and foremost.”
The state Department of Public Health reported 94 new fatalities Thursday in the coronavirus pandemic, the highest one-day loss of life since 125 deaths were reported on April 24. The deaths bring the total fatalities to 3,219, even as a net loss of 55 hospitalized patients brought that statewide census to 1,103 in state hospitals, the fewest since April 3.
“The decisions you have made regarding social distancing and other measures have greatly reduced the disease burden in the state,” said the senators, led by Sen. Saud Anwar of South Windsor, a pulmonologist. “But it would be a great loss to everyone to reopen the state without having at least some of our evidence-based protections in place. We could lose all the success that has already been achieved at great sacrifice.”
Anwar, one of two medical doctors in the General Assembly, said in a morning interview Thursday that for starters, people over-60 years of age, not 65, should consider staying home even after the May 20 date, which he finds arbitrary and for which towns and businesses may have trouble preparing.
“We will all be very sad if in three or four weeks time we have a sudden increase in certain parts of the state,”
Anwar said of the state’s high percentage of those who contract COVID-19 and later die. While net hospitalizations have been decreasing daily since April 23, deaths are nearly 10 percent of the total 35,464 who contracted the infection.
“We are talking about people actually dying from a policy and I just cannot be on the sideline,” said Anwar, chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals. He suggested that there needs to be better protocols to protect vulnerable urban populations, as well as elderly residents in nursing homes.
Anwar said he is also concerned that there is little child care available for workers who will be returning their jobs next week for the first time in two months, while schools will be shuttered for the rest of the academic year. He is also worried that the state is still in the initial phase of training people to trace contacts of those infected, and that there is a need for better isolation strategies for infected residents.
“I think we need all of these things in place before we actually do the opening,” Anwar said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney of New Haven, who signed the letter to the governor, said that Anwar suggested the petition. “A number of senators found the arguments timely,” said Looney, adding that the 11 who signed the request do not represent a split in the caucus.
“The reason I signed onto it is I found Saud’s argument important and he’s seeing it in ways that none of us are,” Looney said. “Basically I found the cautionary notes important.”
Lamont, during his news conference, stressed that there are exact protocols for all facilities that will be allowed to reopen on May 20, including retail stores, barber shops, hair salons and outdoor dining at restaurants. Hair care will be by appointment only. On Wednesday, Connecticut’s restaurant industry requested that by June 3 they be allowed to serve diners indoors at 50 percent capacity, which Lamont rejected.
“We’re trying to get a balance going forward to keep you safe, first and foremost,” Lamont said. “We brief the legislators on a regular basis. Back
and forth, conversations, they know exactly what we’re thinking about, what we’re doing, why we’re doing it.”
He admitted that briefing legislative leaders doesn’t necessarily mean that briefings will be fully digested by rank-and-file lawmakers.
Paul Mounds, Lamont’s chief of staff, told reporters that the regular conversations that he and the business and medical leaders who head Lamont’s advisory group have had with lawmakers have influenced policy.
“The legislature always has a role to play and the executive branch has a role to play as well,” Mounds said. “We’ve been working in collaboration in all aspects as it deals with this reopening, making sure that they are well up to date, making sure that their input is part of the process. At the end of the day, the decision-making on this is not just from the recommendations that come from the reopening committee, it comes directly from the governor, who takes in all this information and makes the decisions. One letter or a few letters are not going to deter the progress that this whole reopening process has been making.”
Others who signed the letter include Sen. Alex Kasser of Greenwich, Sen. Douglas McCrory of Hartford, Sen. Christine Cohen of Guilford, Sen. Derek Slap of West Hartford, Sen. Matt Lesser of Middletown, Sen. Marilyn Moore of Bridgeport, Sen. Stephen Cassano of Manchester, Sen. Will Haskell of Westport and Sen. Julie Kushner of Danbury.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk, who did not sign the request, agreed that the entire caucus is concerned about the state’s response to the pandemic, but the fact that only half of the group signed the letter to the governor does not indicate a rift.
“It’s a tightrope to walk,” Duff said in an afternoon interview. “We know everybody is trying to do their best to strike the right balance. On our leadership calls with the governor’s Reopen Advisory Group, I have expressed my concerns, and those of the Democratic caucus about reopening too quickly.