CONNECTICUT: Gov. Ned Lamont, who has just overcome the rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations after Thanksgiving, is worried about Christmas and New Year.
The governor said there are clear correlations between increased meetings and trips and virus outbreaks.
“So I’m scared,” Lamont said during a news conference Wednesday. “I’m instant with all the bones in my body asking people to be prudent a little longer, and that’s how we get it.”
Lamont said data he has seen on trips to the state through the end of the year shows an increase in scheduled flights compared to Thanksgiving, and “that could be a concern.”
The governor’s “strong advice” for residents is to celebrate the holidays only with their closest family.
“I urge people to stay close to their home,” Lamont said. “If we are really strict now, we will have real benefits in early spring.”
Deidre Gifford, acting commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, advised Connecticut residents to celebrate the holidays away from home wearing a mask, even indoors, and to stay at a safe distance. of others when they were not wearing a mask.
Coronavirus hospitalizations in the state declined overnight on Tuesday in four beds, according to the latest state data. The positive test rate stood at a disastrous 6.08 percent. A total of 1,745 more cases were announced on Tuesday and 28,699 more residents were tested. 32 more deaths were recorded.
Amid reports of the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus in the UK, Lamont said he was pleased that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy were strictly complying with travel regulations. . Connecticut chief operating officer Josh Geballe made it clear that the state had no plans to “send police to people’s homes or hotel rooms.”
Lamont announced a month-long volunteer program, “Step up Connecticut,” with the goal of strengthening the state’s emergency preparedness. More than 1,000 substitute teachers, 400 temporary assistant nurses, 300 medical volunteers and 300 non-medical volunteers are waiting to help schools and health centers with any overflow of coronavirus cases.
More than 16,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in hospitals, Lamont said, and a third of residents in nursing homes in the state have received the first vaccines. Health workers receive the vaccine at 76 locations, he said. Two-thirds of the state’s nursing home population is expected to be inoculated by the end of next week, Lamont said, saying the state “has vaccinated as many people, per capita, as any state in the country. “.
Gifford said the state does not yet have enough doses of vaccine to inoculate all health workers and has called on the facilities to give priority to emergency and intensive care personnel.
“There will be patience on behalf of everyone,” Gifford said.
Pontizer has an agreement with the government to double the state’s supply of vaccines, Lamont said, but had no exact indication of the date the next set of vials will be delivered, estimating it will be “later in the winter or early spring “. “
Lamont said he expects the state to receive about $ 250 million to help tenants as part of the new federal coronavirus stimulus package. That “may take a few weeks,” according to the governor, who expressed concern over President Donald Trump’s reluctance to sign the bill that will delay the process.
The cities with the most new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours are:
1. Danbury: 127
2. Hartford: 71
3. New Britain: 68
4. Bridgeport: 58
5. Norwalk: 57
6. Waterbury: 57
7. Meriden: 54
8. Stamford: 54
9. New Haven: 43
10. New Milford: 40
The cities with the most new cases of coronavirus in the last seven days are:
1. Hartford: 536
2. Waterbury: 529
3. Danbury: 484
4. Stamford: 439
5. Bridgeport: 375
6. New Britain: 361
7. Meriden: 306
8. Norwalk: 274
9. Bristol: 267
10. East Hartford: 233