CT - 3/26/2020 Update: Over 1,000 cases and 21 deaths reported
Note: Testing has come to a virtual standstill in CT due to lack of PPE and testing materials. Uncertain when/if situation will be resolved.
Article 1:
COVID-19: CT Executive Order Limits Groups To Five, Restricts Restaurant Protocols For Pickup
Article 2:
Connecticut Coronavirus Cases Climb Above 1,000; 21 Deaths
Article 3:
Gov. Ned Lamont announces ban on gatherings of more than 5 people as COVID-19 death toll hits 21 and unemployment claims surge to 148K
Article 4:
Daily coronavirus updates: Testing drops in effort to conserve resources; Hartford HealthCare says bottleneck due to supply shortage
Article 5: What the coming weeks will look like in CT:
As COVID-19 spreads through Connecticut, the coming weeks could get much worse, officials say. Here’s what that might look like.
There are 1,012 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Connecticut and each of the state’s eight counties is affected. There are 125 hospitalizations across the state.
Twenty-one residents have died, 13 of whom were in Fairfield County. Three people who died were in Tolland County, two were in Hartford County, two were in New Haven County and one in Middlesex County. Nineteen of the 21 deaths were among residents age 70 and older.
Confirmed cases in Connecticut:
- Fairfield County 607
- Hartford County 138
- Litchfield County 44
- Middlesex County 18
- New Haven County 156
- New London County 13
- Tolland County 33
- Windham County 3
Summary of latest Executive Orders from Gov.:
Tighter new restrictions have been put in place for gatherings and other personal interactions that are scheduled to last at least a month during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic under an executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont.
Gatherings are now limited to five people (reduced from 10) in the order, that will last at least until Thursday, April 30.
Lamont also ordered restaurants to take better control of take-out foot traffic and
told gun shop owners they can only open for customers by appointment.[BBM]
In addition, a tax on plastic bags has been temporarily lifted because of safety concerns over reusable bags. Under that order, workers can no longer bag items into personal reusable bags. Customers will be able to, however.
Because of a lack of personal protection — including masks, gowns and gloves — COVID-19 testing has slowed down in Connecticut.
So Lamont is asking residents to self-monitor their symptoms since tests would first be given to those with critical symptoms who are in the hospital and then to first responders.
Lamont also asked New York residents to self-quarantine for 14 days before coming into Connecticut.
"Make sure you are 100 percent healthy after 14 days before you do a lot of circulating up here," he said.
View from the Ground:
Gov. Lamont continues with daily press briefings and finally has imposed tighter restrictions on gatherings following widespread non compliance with social distancing guidelines. Unlike other Gov's in the region (most notably RI), Gov. Lamont has been UNWILLING to REQUIRE self quarantine procedures for people traveling into CT from hotspot epicentre NYC. The First Selectmen of various shoreline towns (and various other towns in Fairfield and Litchfield Counties) have called on the Gov. to impose strict requirements for those coming to CT from NY where many have second houses. For some reason the Gov. is being deaf to these pleas. The other issue that is happening is that as NYer's flee to live with relatives and friends in CT, its no longer possible for people to safely shelter in place and maintain social distancing and isolation of COVID19 infected individuals.
Local pharmacies (CVS in particular) haven't been imposing social distancing guidelines and many people are fearful that they will become hotbeds of local spread as most store locations are quite small. Its rough to see pharmacy workers at CVS with no PPE, no hand sanitiser and no cleaning of credit card processing machines and pens. Local Boards of Health don't seem to be patrolling the open local businesses to make sure that local residents are safe. Ditto on this social distancing issue at local grocery stores which at times are quite crowded with no social distancing being practices.
Yesterday Gov. Lamont did a joint presser with Sen's Murphy and Blumenthal to discuss the recently passed bills in Washington relating to COVID19 support. It was largely IMO a self congratulatory event and sadly was taken as a partisan opportunity to throw stones at Washington and Federal Response to COVID19. Its sad to see seasoned politicians not be able to abandon partisanship in the face of a global pandemic but its the way things always roll in Hartford and CT unfortunately IMO.
There is now a 3 week backlog in processing unemployment claims and people who have filed that have families and live pay check to pay check are clearly upset and panicked. Many people have called on Gov. Lamont to follow the Gov. of Ohio to make sure that laid off workers can maintain their health insurance for 60 days after their layoff and not be subject to significantly higher rates under COBRA etc. Gov. Lamont has been intransigent on this issue of taking care of now panicked laid off workers who need to maintain health insurance for themselves and their families in the face of COVID19 and other chronic ailments. Whether Gov. Lamont is following this tragic path on insurance due to the powerful insurance lobby in Hartford or because large employers in the State such as Pratt Whitney etc. don't want the Gov. to require this benefit is unclear but its quite obvious that the Press and Public are highly upset about this situation and Gov. Lamont lack of proactiveness. IMO voters will remember Gov. Lamont not taking care of people and their families on the very critical issue of health insurance. IMO this decision by Gov. Lamont is absolutely unconscionable as people are stressed financially with an uncertain 'return to work date' and he thinks the right decision is to not offer a viable solution to healthcare for individuals and families laid off? How would a family with no healthcare (many cannot afford COBRA payments with no income) afford a prolonged hospitalisation for COVID19 for 1 person, let alone multiple people in a family. Tragic situation on healthcare is stacking up to play out and if Gov. Lamont thinks that he can 'finesse' something from the insurance companies of Hartford then all I can say is I've got a 'big bridge over the Hudson to sell him for nothing'! Unbelievable situation IMO.
The small business community in CT (those with under 100 employees) have been offered 18 month 'loans' with interest and repayment terms (unlike the Federal grant based program) to cover payroll and expenses during the crisis by the State of CT. Given the high level of uncertainty in terms of timing of 'return to normal' for small businesses in CT, its unclear what smart business person would sign on the dotted line for a loan that its unclear they could ever repay. Looks to many that this 'program' from Gov. Lamont and Sec. Lehman is a bit like offering 'ice to eskimos' and most small business owners will choose to simply lay off workers and provide their workers with the certainty of unemployment benefits under COVID19 special terms rather than maintain the liability of payment of insurance and wages and incurring a sizeable personal debt. Sad that a more thoughtful program could not have been crafted by Hartford to take care of the smallest of CT businesses (under 50 employees) and figure out some way to defer or forgive taxes during the COVID19 period. Not sure who is running the shop to assist small businesses but they clearly don't understand what it means to have no revenue, ongoing expenses (most landlords aren't assisting), bank loans (most banks are assisting in forbearance due to COVID19) etc. and no clue when business might be up and running.
PPE issues are ongoing in CT and no update from the Gov. No update from the Gov. on how many respirators are in CT, how many respirators are coming and how many hospital beds are available in CT and in particular how many hospital beds in Southern CT. Rumors are flying from hospital workers that Greenwich and Stamford Hospitals are FULL UP. Mmmmm, if so, when the residents of the area start needed oxygen and ventilator support then WHERE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GO? Local ambulance regulations still haven't been addressed to allow local EMS to take people to other hospitals in the State. Not sure what the Gov. Lamont plan is on taking people to hospitals in the Southern Part of the State. Most people now are assuming they will have to drive themselves or a loved one to a distant hospital up to 70 miles away as local EMS will be unable to help. Again, a tragic scenario is potentially lining up to occur and NO proactivity in terms of planning from Hartford seems to be on the horizon. It also appears that few of the local EMS groups (largely volunteer), Police or Fire in Southern CT have sufficient PPE to handle COVID19 patients of any volume anyway so it seems to be shaping up that people will have to drive themselves whilst ill to the hospital or depend on a family member to drive them.
State COVID19 testing by State Lab has virtually ground to a halt due to lack of supplies and various agents needed for processing. Still unclear if additional 2 kits from CDC have been received by State of CT. Dr. Cartter from the Board of Health has been absent for last 2 press conferences and my guess is that this in NO MYSTERY! Someday I hope somebody can answer the question of whether the State of CT did ANY planning for COVID19. Now isn't the time for this question but watching this tragic situation play out is so hard as with planning and foresight it might have been possible to see the enemy being fought. Instead we have been subjected to no proactivity, no public testing in volume and a period of time that was way too long IMO before doing anything about social distancing. Hard to watch this play as we know how the story ends, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable.
Domestic violence groups have been quite vocal about the need to shut down gun shops in CT during this COVID19 period. Gov. Lamont has been deaf to their pleas although he has now said that gun shops can be open 'by appointment'. So, I guess you can order up guns and ammo no differently than a drive up meal available for pickup. Yep, "I'd like a Glock 19 and 6 months of ammo to go please"!
Only in CT.......
