By Mark Pazniokas
www.ctmirror.orgNew Haven — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal sat under a pop-up canopy on the New Haven Green, tilted his head back and submitted to a nasal swab for a COVID-19 test today. The moment was a photo op for a media-savvy senator and a public-service pitch for a state promoting testing as it slowly loosens restrictions on commerce.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal gets tested with a nasal swab for COVID-19 by nurse John Grimes on the New Haven Green today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Cloe Poisson for CTMirror.org
“It isn’t the most comfortable thing to have, in effect, a swab on a stick inserted directly into your nose. It is a a pretty strange and awkward feeling, but it doesn’t hurt,” Blumenthal said. He smiled and added, “And I didn’t cry.”
Testing for COVID has become easier to find in Connecticut, but testing sites still are less elements of a cohesive system than a loose affiliation of hospitals, community health clinics, laboratories and medical entrepreneurs behind pop-up sites, like the one open today on the New Haven Green.
“I think we have a long way to go,” said Mayor Justin Elicker of New Haven.