By Gregory B. Hladky
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Connecticut officials today confirmed a new coronavirus hotspot at a Ridgefield senior living center shortly after Gov. Ned Lamont announced during a radio interview that he expects schools in the state to remain closed until this fall.
A spokesman for the Ridgefield assisted living facility, Benchmark Senior Living, said a second resident at the facility died Monday from COVID-19 and that 16 other seniors there have now tested positive for the virus.
“These residents have not exhibited any symptoms and are being closely monitored and cared for by our trained staff,” facility officials said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, in an interview with New York-based WCBS-880, Lamont said that all of Fairfield County should now be considered a coronavirus hotspot along with New York City and Westchester County.
“I can tell you that, in Fairfield County, you are probably five times more likely to be infected than you are in the rest of the state,” Lamont said.
State officials said Monday that the number of Connecticut deaths from COVID-19 had risen to 10. At least two more virus-related deaths – including the most recent one at the Ridgefield senior living center – were expected to be announced Tuesday.
As of the start of this week, 415 people in this state had been diagnosed with coronavirus but that number is also expected to rise dramatically. Experts said the number of infections is likely to double every 3-5 days.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today the pandemic is hitting New York harder and faster than anticipated, with 25,665 confirmed cases and 3,234 persons hospitalized with the virus.
“The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought,” Cuomo said. “That is a bad combination of facts.”
Nearly a quarter of those hospitalized required intensive care, a trend that could overwhelm hospitals. “That’s the problem,” Cuomo said.
Lamont, who said Monday he was extending school closures to at least April 20, said in today’s radio interview that he now believes the schools probably won’t reopen until the start of the next school year.
“I really think that’s a likelihood,” Lamont said. “You worry if people get back too quickly, there will be a second iteration of this virus. So April 20 is the minimum – it’s probably the school year.”
[Interim Westport Superintendent of Schools David Abbey said today schools will remain closed until at least April 20 … Within the next few days, we will be sending out updated information with respect to our distance learning plan.]
The mobile hospital Lamont toured today is owned by the Department of Public Health and was last deployed during the Sandy Hook massacre.
“The governor is looking at this public health crisis as potentially lasting a longer period of time than initially thought,” Max Reiss, Lamont’s spokesman, said in an email.
“Governor Lamont is telling school systems they must be prepared for a potentially unprecedented break from classes being held at schools as a result of the coronavirus to ensure students, teachers, staff and parents are safe.”
Lamont stressed the need for the federal government to respond to this crisis on a regional, rather than state-by-state basis.
The majority of New York’s cases are in New York City, by far the most densely populated city in the U.S. But it also has taken root in the suburbs of Nassau County and Westchester County, the latter sharing a border with Connecticut. It had nearly 3,000 cases as of Monday.
“Where we are today, you will be in four weeks or five weeks or six weeks. We are your future,” Cuomo said.
Connecticut’s governor said the virus is expanding in his state “much faster” than efforts to expand hospital capacity. “We’re expanding [the number of hospital beds] fast, but I don’t know if we’re expanding fast enough for the virus,” Lamont said.
Lamont also urged people to heed the warnings to continue social distancing, work from home and avoid group contacts.
He pointed to the now-infamous case of a March 5 Westport birthday party that attracted 50 guests. At the time of the party there were no reported COVID-19 cases in Westport, but at least 85 people tested positive for the virus just 11 days later.
“Because of that party in Westport, you’re much more likely to be infected in Westport than anywhere else [in Connecticut],” Lamont said.
In Hartford, police will begin using public loudspeakers mounted on their cars to play pre-recorded messages in English and Spanish reminding people of the importance of keeping a safe distance between themselves and others.
The messages will be played if officers see groups of people who aren’t practicing social distancing, city officials said.
