By Mark Pazniokas

Even as Connecticut studies how to begin easing COVID-19 restrictions, residents should expect some form of social distancing to remain a necessary public-health measure at least through the fall, the chief clinical officer of Hartford HealthCare warned today.

“It’s not the most popular thing to say at the moment,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar, whose system of hospitals had 357 COVID-19 patients, including 161 at Hartford Hospital. But he added, “That’s the only thing that’s going to keep the virus away from us.”

With overall COVID-19 hospitalizations falling for a fifth straight day today, medical professionals and Gov. Ned Lamont are preparing Connecticut for what an easing of restrictions might mean, while warning against going too far too fast. Lamont’s current closure orders run through May 20.

“I’m looking at Georgia. I’m looking at Oklahoma. I’m looking at those states where I think they opened up prematurely, especially those types of places where it’s impossible to socially distance,” Lamont told reporters at a midday blood drive. “I keep that in mind as we figure what is the phased way that we can get our state back to work, but only if we do it in a safe way.”

By Gregory Hladky

Coronavirus hospitalizations in Connecticut saw their biggest one-day decrease today since the state began tracking — a fact Gov. Ned Lamont seized as a hopeful sign despite the continued daily increases in deaths resulting from COVID-19.

State officials reported that patients now hospitalized with the virus total 1,877, a drop of 70 from the previous day. An additional 125 people died from COVID-19, bringing the Connecticut death toll to 1,764. The death toll includes three state employees who worked in Connecticut’s Department of Developmental Services who died after contracting the coronavirus, officials reported today.

At his daily briefing, Lamont called the ongoing reduction in hospitalizations “so positive.” He said another week of declines in the number of people needing hospital care for the coronavirus could bring the state closer to reopening some portions of the economy.

Stamford Hospital, which has been near the epicenter of Connecticut’s COVID-19 crisis for weeks, is now seeing “a bit of a turn-down” in hospitalization for the virus, said Kathleen Silard, president and CEO of that hospital, who joined Lamont for his news briefing.

By Patrick Skahill

Gov. Ned Lamont today painted a picture of a state with an eventually reopened economy undergirded by rapid testing and data collection.

But how officials will use that data to inform public health actions in the coming months is an open question.

After two consecutive days of decline, hospitalization numbers in Connecticut rose slightly again today, but Lamont said overall trend lines are encouraging. He also said recent daily data indicate cases have peaked in Fairfield County.

“There, we definitely have bent the curve … hit the apex, I think we feel fairly confident about that,” Lamont said.

By Ryan Lindsay

The state today reported an additional 41 coronavirus-related deaths, but it also reported that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have decreased for the second day in a row.

The new figures bring the state’s total coronavirus-associated death count to 1,127. Still, Gov. Ned. Lamont said today that the slight downward tick of hospitalized patients — 37 fewer patients from the day before — is a positive sign.

“Whether this continues is dependent upon … the actions each of us takes over the next several days and weeks,” Lamont said. “This isn’t over — we lost another 41 Connecticut residents, and we mourn for their lives. Together, we can have an impact on flattening the curve, but if people tell you the pandemic has ended — they are wrong.”

Meanwhile, Lamont also announced that nursing homes across the state will receive an additional 5% in funding from the state in the form of increased Medicaid payments. This, the administration says, is on top of a recent 10% increase. The Lamont administration says the relief will mean a total additional $65 million in payments to the state’s nursing homes.

By Phil Galewitz

As New York, California and other states begin to see their numbers of new COVID-19 cases level off or even slip, it might appear as if we’re nearing the end of the pandemic.

President Donald Trump and some governors have pointed to the slowdown as an indication that the day has come for reopening the country.

“Our experts say the curve has flattened and the peak in new cases is behind us,” Trump said Thursday in announcing the administration’s guidance to states about how to begin easing social distancing measures and stay-at home orders.

But with the national toll of coronavirus deaths climbing each day and an ongoing scarcity of testing, health experts warn that the country is nowhere near “that day.”

By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

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One out of every 12 Connecticut nursing homes has a COVID-19 infection rate of at least 25 percent, a CTMirror analysis of state data shows. In three homes, more than half of the residents have the coronavirus.

Statewide, among Connecticut’s 213 nursing homes, one out of every 12 residents has tested positive for the disease, while one out of every 55 has died. One out of every 30 nursing homes has had at least 10 percent of its residents die.

Thursday evening, amid mounting calls for transparency, the state released the infection and death counts for each nursing home in Connecticut. But it did not disclose the number of occupied beds at each home, which meant it was unclear what percentage of their residents are sick or have died. Instead, state officials released the number of licensed beds at each facility.

However, Connecticut nursing homes are, on average, about 88 percent occupied, according to state data, though that number has fallen since the coronavirus outbreak due to a number of factors, such as a reduction in non-COVID-19 related procedures at hospitals that require rehabilitation at nursing homes.