HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday that plans are underway to greatly ramp up COVID-19 testing across Connecticut as officials consider how and when to safely reopen the state and avoid a second wave of the disease.
The Democrat announced a new partnership between Hartford HealthCare and Quest Diagnostics, which will allow the health network to boost its testing capacity from about 500 tests per day to 2,000, with results available in 24 hours. In recent weeks, there’s been an average of 2,600 tests a day being conducted across the entire state of Connecticut.
“Right now, we are only able to test people who are showing symptoms, so we’re missing an awful lot of the folks out there,” said Lamont, noting that about 40% of people who’ve been infected by the coronavirus don’t show symptoms right away. “It’s important that we be able to capture that if we’re ever able to get back to work safely.”
Jeffrey Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, said people will be able to call a hotline or go online to request a test. Initially, there are plans for five test centers, with more on the way. Hartford HealthCare also expects to have a mobile testing unit that can go to nursing homes, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and other places that are considered hot spots for COVID-19.
“As we think about returning the state to work, amping up our testing capabilities is paramount,” Flaks said.
Steve Rusckowski, a Connecticut native who is chairman, CEO and president of Quest Diagnostics, said there are also plans to increase antibody testing in Connecticut. Quest, he said, has performed about 50% of the roughly 64,000 diagnostic tests conducted across the state so far.
More than 20,300 people in the state have tested positive, and 1,423 have died, an increase of 92 since Monday. While the number of hospitalizations increased by 30, to a total of 1,949, Lamont noted they’re trending downward in Fairfield County and flattening in New Haven County. Hospitalizations are on the rise, however, in Hartford County.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
In other coronavirus-related developments around Connecticut:
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HARTFORD COUNTY COVID BEDS
The Connecticut National Guard began setting up nearly 200 beds for recovering COVID-19 patients Tuesday at Central Connecticut State University as coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Hartford County increase.
The care center at Kaiser Hall is part of efforts around the state to increase bed capacity for recovering patients. It will be used to free up beds at hospitals for patients with advanced cases of COVID-19, said Dr. Mark Prete, president of the Hartford HealthCare Medical Group.
“The population is those needing post-acute care who just can’t go home yet or those on observation status,” he said, adding that patients whose conditions worsen will be transferred to a hospital.
Hartford HealthCare medical staff will oversee the patients and National Guard soldiers will provide nonmedical support, officials said. The Guard has set up a similar recovery center with about 600 beds at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
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FOOD DISTRIBUTION
For the second day in a row, a regional food bank that was giving away food to families in need saw long lines at a distribution site set up at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
Dom Piccini, logistics manager for the Foodshare, said Tuesday they had 12 volunteers and two employees handing out food. They’re expecting 24 volunteers on Wednesday. He said workers are trying to speed up the process so people don’t have to wait hours to get food.
Since the distribution effort began on Monday, Piccini said Foodshare has distributed more than 40,000 pounds of food to people arriving in roughly 2,000 cars on Monday and Tuesday. The distribution effort will run through Friday. It’s open from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. daily for residents of Hartford and Tolland counties. Drivers have been lining up early in the morning.
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NO LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Democratic and Republican legislative leaders announced the regular 2020 legislative session will not reconvene before the May 6 constitutional adjournment deadline because of the pandemic. The leaders said they plan to convene a special session in the coming months.
“Our top priority is the health and safety of the public, and we are committed to continue working in unison to stem this health crisis and do everything possible to protect the Connecticut residents we all represent,” the four top leaders said.
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PRISONERS’ LAWSUIT
The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of state prison inmates who say they aren’t being protected from the coronavirus.
The lawsuit, which is similar to one filed earlier in state court, asks a judge to order the governor and Correction Department commissioner to release medically vulnerable inmates, and to create a plan to protect those who remain incarcerated and release more prisoners if socially distancing remains impossible.
More than 290 inmates and about 200 prison staff had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday. One inmate has died.
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Associated Press Writer Chris Ehrmann contributed to this report. Ehrmann is a corps member for Report for America, a nonprofit organization that supports local news coverage, in a partnership with The Associated Press for Connecticut. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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