HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Weeks into the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday it appears Connecticut’s more densely packed neighborhoods are where many of the state’s new infections of COVID-19 are cropping up.
The communities, places like Hartford and Bridgeport, present a challenge to the state’s reopening aspirations. They will be earmarked as a priority as the state ramps up its testing, Lamont said.
State Epidemiologist Matthew Cartter said on Tuesday there could be 50,000 tests conducted in Connecticut per week by the end of May, compared to the approximately 4,000 tests done weekly now. While diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is currently focused heavily on front-line health care workers and ICU patients, Lamont said there will soon be an emphasis on testing people like food service workers and other front-line employees, those working in factories and residents living in congested areas.
“There, we have the opportunity to do symptomatic and asymptomatic testing and that will tamp down the spread of this virus in a dramatic way,” Lamont said on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday, there have been been more than 26,700 positive cases of COVID-19 in Connecticut, with nearly 11,000 of those in Fairfield County and more than 5,300 in Hartford County. So far, there have been 2,168 confirmed COVID-19-associated deaths in the state.
A rapid-testing site in New Haven, operated by CVS Health in coordination with the state, is continuing to take appointments seven days a week. People do not need a doctor’s referral and test results are provided within 30 minutes.
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.
In other coronavirus-related developments around Connecticut:
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LOCAL LONG-TERM RECOVERY EFFORTS
Municipalities, community organizations, nonprofits and others are being urged by the governor to form new local, long-term recovery committees that will help make sure the needs of all residents are met as parts of the state eventually reopen. Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz has been tasked with coordinating the effort.
“Coordinating these efforts from the ground up at the local level is an important way to ensure inclusion of all community voices in the recovery process,” she said. Information on building local long-term recovery committees can be found at ctrecovers.ct.gov.
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HOSPITAL VISITS
Disability rights advocates contend Connecticut officials haven’t done enough to ensure people with intellectual disabilities, including those who may need help due to communication barriers or altered mental status, are able to bring one support person with them if they need hospital care during the coronavirus pandemic.
While the Department of Developmental Services issued a letter on Tuesday asking hospitals to allow the support people to accompany the patient, the group Disability Rights Connecticut said it does not require hospitals to do anything, calling it an “inadequate half-step in the right direction.” They also said the letter, which was developed with the Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Hospital Association, doesn’t help people not served by DDS who cognitive, behavioral or communication disabilities.
Asked about the situation on Tuesday, Paul Mounds, the governor’s chief of staff, noted that DDS commissioner has been “working vigorously on this issue with extreme compassion.” It was unclear whether the administration planned to apply the guidelines in the letter to hospitals to non-DDS clients.
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THIRD PRISONER DIES
The Department of Correction announced Wednesday that a third inmate has died due to complications related to COVID-19. The agency said the unnamed 74-year-old offender died Tuesday. The man was last housed at Osborne Correctional Institution in Somers and had been receiving medical treatment at the UConn Health Center in Farmington since April 19.
The inmate had been in the state’s correctional system since 1970 serving a life sentence for murder.
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IMMIGRANT ASSISTANCE
An organization that advocates for the estimated 100,000 immigrants in Connecticut who don’t have legal status has called on Gov. Ned Lamont to create a $120 million state Disaster Relief Fund for Undocumented Workers and Families. Members of CT Students for a Dream said Tuesday this community has been “left behind by federal and state aid, having been excluded from the federal stimulus check program.”
Lamont noted on Wednesday the state has ensured immigrants won’t be evicted and will have their testing and COVID-related treatment costs covered.
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ONLINE GRADUATIONS
UConn has become the latest university in the state to announce plans for an online commencement ceremony amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
University President Thomas Katsouleas told the school’s Board of Trustees Wednesday that the Class of 2020 will be honored on May 9 with a live video feed that will include a commencement address from Hall-of-Fame women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
Yale President Peter Salovey plans to confer degrees and address the graduates online on May 18. The school also has created a website where it plans to post names, videos, and other content celebrating graduating students.
Yale officials have said they still hope to hold a traditional, in-person commencement at some point after various coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Several other schools are planning in-person ceremonies at a later date. Central Connecticut, for example, has postponed its commencement to Oct. 11.
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