The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
77 new deaths from coronavirus bring state’s total to 2,633
Seventy-seven new fatalities were reported in the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 2,633 on a day when net increases in hospitalization broke a 12-day streak of declines.
A net 36 patient increase in hospitalizations brought the current census to 1,500, about equal to those hospitalized on April 10. “One day is not something really to focus on, but it’s just to keep in mind that this is by no means behind us,” Gov. Ned Lamont said during his daily news briefing in the State Capitol.
Lamont said the state is still planning a May 20 reopening for many businesses that have been closed in the pandemic. While the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines calls for a 14-day decline, there are three-day averages that become part of the equation.
“We watch this carefully, because this COVID is highly infectious and there’s not a lot of margin for error,” Lamont said. “We had better be very cautious as we plan going forward.” Within the next few days the advisory group he appointed to plan reopening protocols will start issuing guidelines for businesses.
“It’s worth reminding that we are looking at the facts on the ground every day and making sure what we are doing is safe for you,” Lamont said at the start of the 50-minute briefing.
Lamont remarked that a raucous drive-by demonstration outside the Governor’s Residence on Monday was mostly respectful, although at least one person shouted Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” quotation from 1775.
“We could all be Libertarians and you should be free to be dumb if you want to,” Lamont said. “But not if it endangers others. And that is what is so deadly about COVID. You’re not just endangering yourself, but by being lax and not taking the social distancing serious endangers everybody else. When you wear a mask, it’s not necessarily to protect yourself. It’s to protect everybody about it. It’s a different way of thinking what your obligations are. And that’s why I continue to be strict about this and urge you to maintain the social distancing because that’s how we get this state going again and that’s how we keep our May 20 date and beyond.”
On Monday, there were 61 new fatalities reported that brought the total to 2,556, along with the 12th consecutive day of declining hospitalizations. There was a net decrease of 24 hospitalizations, making the total of 1,464 equal to the number of COVID-19 cases in hospitals back on April 9.
In other pandemic developments, the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday announced it is preparing new disaster response protocols in case a hurricane hits during the pandemic, including procedures for sheltering and evacuating while maintaining social distancing.
The agency is expecting a new plan from headquarters about responding to a natural disaster at the same time as a COVID response, said Capt. W. Russell Webster, FEMA’s New England regional administrator.
“We’re looking at things like how do we support states in evacuating hospitals and maintaining a 6-foot distance, and how are we going to support states with sheltering and space requirements where the normal schools, auditoriums and community centers are no longer adequate,” he said in a phone interview.
The planning also includes discussions about transporting COVID-positive patients, and how elderly and vulnerable people can be protected if they need shelter due to a storm.
“We’ve been doing regional planning for conducting a natural disaster response on top of COVID for about four weeks now,” he said.
The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1 and ends Nov. 30. The Pennsylvania State University Earth System Science Center projected in its recent annual forecast that this year could bring “one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons on record,” with an estimated 20 named storms. Other forecasting models around the country have predicted 14 to 20 named storms.
A particularly bad storm season could collide with the projected second wave of the coronavirus. The agency is also planning to change the way it conducts preliminary damage assessments if on-the-ground surveys can’t be done due to contagion concerns.
“We’re heavily investing in technology to assess the status of communities before and after a disaster,” Webster said. Aerial mapping will limit the need for people to be out conducting inperson assessments, he said, which could also speed up funding for disaster response because the surveys can be done faster. The agency is also storing some protective equipment in anticipation of a second surge of the virus, he said. “We’re starting to see personal protective equipment come out in much greater numbers than in the first month or so of this disaster response,” he said. “Here in New England, I rented a warehouse so we could begin to stock up certain types of personal protective equipment,” he said.