HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday that Connecticut is showing positive signs it can meet criteria set for the state’s planned May 20 initial reopening date, noting how hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to decline and the state is making progress toward building a 30-day stockpile of personal protective equipment for health care workers.
The Democrat said he also expects COVID testing will continue to ramp up. Close to 5,000 diagnostic tests were conducted on Wednesday, but the state hopes to more than double that rate over the next two weeks. The goal is 42,000 a week.
“We’re not taking our eye off that goal. All symptomatic patients should be tested. They should be tested on a regular basis.” said Lamont, whose administration also wants to start testing asymptomatic patients. That would be in addition to technology used to monitor any potential flare-ups, such as the 11,000 “smart thermometers” the state has distributed and the How We Feel app. So far, 60,000 people are using it, providing information about their symptoms daily.
Meanwhile, a Microsoft platform for a contact tracing initiative will be tested over the next few days. Lamont said hundreds of volunteers have already agreed to become tracers, reaching out to people who may have come in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Late last month, Lamont announced plans to begin the gradual, multi-stage process of lifting restrictions on businesses and activities, including allowing outdoor dining at restaurants. Remaining retail establishments, hair and nail services, outdoor exhibits at zoos and museums, outdoor recreation and university research programs will also be allowed to open with social distancing restrictions.
Protocols for businesses allowed to reopen will be released Friday. But Lamont stressed they don’t have to reopen if they don’t feel prepared.
As of Thursday, there have been nearly 32,000 positive cases of COVID-19 and 2,797 deaths, an increase of 79 since Wednesday. Hospitalizations decreased to 1,385, a 30% decline from the state’s peak.
For most people, the coronavirus 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, including pneumonia, or death.
In other developments related to the coronavirus:
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JUVENILE DETENTION CENTERS
Workers at Connecticut’s juvenile detention centers are calling on state judicial officials to improve precautions against the coronavirus, after employees and offenders tested positive for the new virus.
Leaders of unions representing about 3,500 employees of the Judicial Branch, which runs the juvenile detention centers in Hartford and Bridgeport, said workers need N95 masks, and they urged officials to work with union leadership on plans to better protect workers, youths and the public.
As of April 24, 17 workers at the Hartford and Bridgeport detention centers and eight juvenile offenders had tested positive for the coronavirus, union leaders said in a statement Wednesday. None have died.
Judicial Branch officials said Thursday they talked with the unions on Tuesday and believed concerns about personal protective equipment had been addressed. Cathy Foley Geib, deputy director of juvenile residential services said surgical masks are available for all staff and youth, but higher-level N95 masks are in short supply worldwide and are reserved for when staff have to care for sick youths in isolated units.
She said none of the 14 youths at the Hartford detention center and none of the 29 at the Bridgeport facility are currently sick. All the youths who tested positive were in Hartford, she said.
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NURSES HONORED
Gov. Ned Lamont honored nurses and other health care workers Thursday at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.
The event coincided with National Nurses Week. Lamont gave a speech, and health care workers paused for a prayer.
“I’m just in awe of what each and every one of you do,” the governor said. “I look into the eyes of some of the patients. I know the hope that you bring to them.”
Lamont also praised the workers for keeping families in contact with their loved ones via cellphone video and other devices.
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UCONN SUED
The father of a University of Connecticut student alleges in a new lawsuit the school’s online learning programs put in place because of the coronavirus are inadequate and UConn should refund some tuition and fees.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Long Island, New York, seeks class action status to represent other UConn students who paid tuition and fees for this spring’s semester, The Hartford Courant reported.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by students at more than 25 universities across the country.
Lenny Paris, of Plainview, New York, on Long Island, is suing UConn, which hasn’t had in-person classes on campus since March 13.
UConn does not comment on pending litigation, a school spokeswoman said. But the school posted on its website that it would not make tuition and fee refunds because its educational programs were continuing online.
Students who live on campus are getting prorated credits for housing and dining fees.
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FOOD AID
The federal government has approved $95.5 million for Connecticut to provide food assistance for children in school meals programs, the governor announced Wednesday. The benefits are through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for children eligible for free and reduced-price meals at schools. The federal approval also gives the state an extra $26 million for a program expected to provide food benefits to about 270,000 children in the state who are not able to receive meals at school.
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