HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Gov. Ned Lamont said plans are underway to expand hospital bed capacity in Connecticut to prepare for the anticipated surge in patients diagnosed with COVID-19, including transforming the field house at Southern Connecticut State University into a 250-bed temporary hospital.
Representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have toured a number of large facilities around the state to come up with locations for “little hospitals in a box” where patients needing intermediate care could be treated, freeing up the hospitals for the more serious cases, he said.
Hospital systems are also sharing available supplies and hospital bed space.
“Look, if we’re crowded in the south, maybe we got some capacity in northern part of the state and it could be just the opposite in three or four weeks. This is what we’re trying to do. This is how we’re trying to plan for this,” Lamont said.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said medical equipment will arrive Tuesday to transform Webster Bank Arena into a 128-bed facility to accommodate the overflow from hospitals and take in ambulatory or mildly symptomatic patients. There are also plans to use facilities at Western Connecticut State University and elsewhere for other field hospitals as the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations grows to 517. There have been 36 fatalities.
Other coronavirus developments in Connecticut:
FIRST INMATE TESTS POSITIVE
An inmate at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville has become the state’s first prisoner to be diagnosed with COVID-19.
The Department of Correction said the 32-year-old has been in isolation since first developing symptoms Thursday. Once the test results came back, the inmate was moved to a negative pressure isolation room, which allows for air to flow in, but not escape.
A guard at the facility tested positive for the virus March 21, prompting the department to suspend all inmate transfers in and out of the prison.
Prisoners located in the same housing unit as the infected inmate will be isolated from the rest of the population for 14 days.
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MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Lamont has again urged President Trump to consider Connecticut as part of the New York metropolitan area when distributing medical supplies.
“We need ventilators. We need the (personal protective equipment). It’s being redirected at the tarmac at JFK and going to other states that are considered more at risk,” he told MSNBC on Monday. “We are at risk, especially in the southern part of our state.”
He said Connecticut has close to 1,000 ventilators but needs 1,500 more.
Marna Borgstrom, CEO of Yale New Haven Health, said her system has a 10-day to two-week supply of PPE.
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HOUSING FOR THE HOMELESS
To reduce the risk of the virus spreading among the homeless population, local officials are directed to find ways to relocate people from shelters to less congested housing like motels under an order signed over the weekend by Lamont.
New Haven began moving people to two hotels last week, city spokesman Gage Frank said. Over 40 people have been placed there so far, he said.
Danbury has relocated 50 homeless people to a hotel, city spokeswoman Taylor O’Brien said. She said the city created a new master plan for shelters two weeks ago.
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ELECTION FUNDING
Connecticut plans to use nearly $5.4 million in new federal funding to help cover the anticipated cost of additional people voting by absentee ballot and to protect workers at the polls.
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has asked Lamont to expand eligibility for absentee ballots so people can vote by mail if they want to avoid polling places.
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WORRIED WORKERS
Some workers who cannot stay at home want the state to do more to protect them.
The union representing Connecticut’s judicial marshals said there’s no evidence the state is properly sanitizing courthouses, vehicles used to transport prisoners from court and prisoner restraints.
The union said the marshals can’t stay the required 6 feet from prisoners and need more personal protective equipment. The Judicial Branch didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment.
Also, the union representing service workers at interstate rest stops is complaining those workers aren’t being offered sick time and have received no training or equipment to protect their health.
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CASINO CLOSURES
Foxwoods Resort Casino will remain shuttered for now.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns and operates Foxwoods, originally planned on a two-week closure set to end Tuesday. But the tribe said Monday the closure is extended until it hears from the tribal chief medical officer, the state of Connecticut and the Centers for Disease Control that it’s OK to reopen.
The tribe said it will continue to provide health insurance for furloughed workers.
The Mohegan Tribe, which also closed its Mohegan Sun casino complex for two weeks, has not announced similar plans. A message was left seeking comment.
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FERRY SERVICE
The state has delayed the start of ferry operations on the Connecticut River.
The Department of Transportation said service between Glastonbury and Rocky Hill and Chester and Hadlyme are suspended indefinitely during the COVID-19 health crisis.
The service typically operates from April 1 to November 30.
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Associated Press writers Susan Haigh and Chris Erhmann contributed to this report
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