By Patrick Skahill
Connecticut Public Radio
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.
Fairfield County reported a total of 733 people hospitalized as of today, down 13 from the previous day.
While Lamont said hospitalizations continue to be the state’s “lead metric” for tracking the impact of COVID-19, he also called it a “blunt instrument,” one which may not be adequate to inform decisions about reopening Connecticut at the state’s next major decision point: May 20, which is the date until which schools are currently closed.
Still, Lamont said any decision to reopen will require lots of data. So, to fill potential data gaps, the governor mentioned several possible technological solutions,= including “fever meters” at manufacturing facilities and, eventually, stores around the state.
“Anybody with a temperature of more than 100.4, not allowed in,” Lamont said. “Over time, we may find that we can open up our stores and retail … a lot faster and sooner and more safely if we have that fever meter to test people on their way in.”
He also said the state was partnering with a nonprofit app project called How We Feel, which collects anonymous, self-reported, health data that’s aggregated by zip code.
“That information may allow us to distribute more personal protective equipment,” said Feng Zhang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is involved with the app. “Or providing more information … for social distancing. Those are the things that may be possible if we have more nuanced information.”
Lamont said closing businesses in certain zip codes that have already reopened would be a “body blow,” but said any such future measures based on data collection are “to be determined.”
“I want to make sure we open, we stay open and we go forward from there,” Lamont said.
Meanwhile the state’s positive COVID-19 case count jumped by nearly 2,000 and the death toll rose by 204 people. Lamont said both large numbers were consequences of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changing rubrics for its data points.
“We’re just truing this up so we keep with the CDC and federal definitions,” Lamont said.
State’s Unemployment Fund “Is Not Solvent,” Officials Say
State officials said today they anticipate Connecticut’s unemployment fund will run out of money in early May, but they stressed mechanisms are in place to allow for federal borrowing, which will ensure unemployment claims continue to get paid.
“Our trust fund that is supported by the employers in the state of Connecticut is not solvent,” said Daryle Dudzinski, deputy commissioner Connecticut Department of Labor, speaking on Connecticut Public Radio’s Where We Live.
In the last week, Dudzinski said his department paid out around 253,000 payments for a total of $83 million dollars.
“We anticipate running out of monies, so to speak, but we have already prepared to borrow from the federal government … to make sure there is no delay in anyone’s [benefits],” Dudzinski said.
On Friday, Gov Ned Lamont said he was working with Congress to negotiate a federal relief package that could help shore up the state’s hemorrhaging unemployment funds.
Lamont said federal relief could come two ways: a low-interest loan, which would need to be paid back by the state, or a grant, which Lamont said he preferred.
“Obviously, small businesses and states would love them to do it that way,” Lamont said. “That would not impact anybody’s rating and keep us whole.”
Governor calls for more rapid-testing locations
Lamont said today he wants more rapid COVID-19 tests in Connecticut, including a drive-up clinic in Hartford and a mobile testing center for nursing homes.
Connecticut launched a partnership with CVS Health last week to offer free coronavirus testing to anyone who pre-registers online and then arrives in a car to 60 Sargent Drive in New Haven, the former Gateway Community College parking lot. It is the state’s only drive-up rapid testing site at the moment..
The site uses a rapid-response COVID-19 test from Abbott, which can return results in as little as five minutes.
Speaking to Connecticut Public Radio’s “Where We Live,” Lamont said he is now in discussion with CVS to try to bring that testing model to Hartford.
“The virus is accelerating still in the greater Hartford area,” Lamont said. “Let’s get a rapid test in Hartford — maybe in the North End — make sure that people have some security … I feel very confident that we will get one soon, but I can’t put a date on that.”
Lamont said he also wants to work with CVS to get a mobile testing facility that can move around the state and rapidly test patients.
The governor said that option would be particularly helpful for nursing homes, where a lag in COVID-19 test results over the past month left many in limbo about how to handle sick residents.
Meanwhile, coronavirus tore through nursing home populations and, as of late last week, accounted for roughly 40% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
“We need rapid real-time mobile testing in our nursing homes now,” Lamont said.
