From 'Party Zero' To Endemic Response: 2 Years Of COVID-19 In Connecticut

CONNECTICUT — It’s been more than two years since the coronavirus pandemic struck Connecticut. More than 10,600 Connecticut residents, the equivalent of a small town like Canton, have been killed by the virus.

It's clear COVID-19 will likely be with us for some time to come, and many people have transitioned to a mindset of finding a way to "live with the virus."

Gov. Ned Lamont largely removed coronavirus mandates in May 2021 after vaccines had become widely available to adults. Lamont’s emergency powers expired in February, and state legislators voted to end the statewide school mask mandate at the beginning of March.

Government leaders, including Lamont and President Joe Biden, have changed policies from a public health emergency to an endemic response.

The World Health Organization still defines COVID-19 as a pandemic.

“At some point they will close that out, and that will technically be the end of the pandemic from a bureaucratic perspective,” Dr. Rick Martinello, Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Yale-New Haven Health, said.

Practically speaking, it’s harder to distinguish the exact point when a disease becomes endemic, he said.

The hope is that waves of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations become less significant as the local population develops a higher level of immunity.

“That said, I think we need to reflect on influenza virus,” he said, “We don’t know if there will be a seasonality to Covid, but it is reasonable to expect there is some seasonality.”

Flu can cause about 60,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations nationally each season. Adding COVID-19 infections on top of that could prove challenging.

Adapting behaviors in ways people will tolerate will help keep communities healthier, Martinello said. That will likely mean public health guidance to wear masks in certain settings when the coronavirus is circulating heavily in a community.

Somewhere between 10 and 40 percent of people are estimated to be affected by a post-acute Covid syndrome.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done to understand what it is, how often it occurs and how to prevent it,” Martinello said.

For now, the best way to prevent it is to be up-to-date on coronavirus vaccinations, he said.

Timeline

From 'Party Zero' To 7.6K Deaths & New Hope: Coronavirus First Year Timeline

April 1: All Connecticut adults become eligible for coronavirus vaccinations.

May 19: All business COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, including mask use mandates.

June 17: Connecticut reports 35 cases of the delta coronavirus variant. Infection rates remain low in Connecticut.

Aug. 14: Lamont announces the state will implement the CDC’s recommendation to offer a third vaccination dose to immune-compromised people.

Oct. 21: CDC expands eligibility for booster shots to people over 65, adults in high-risk work settings, long-term care residents and adults with certain underlying medical conditions.

Nov. 19: CDC expands booster shot eligibility to all adults.

Dec. 4: Health officials announce first confirmed omicron variant spotted in Connecticut.

Dec.7: Daily positive test rate climbs over 8 percent, highest single-day since January 2021.

Jan. 10: Connecticut has an average of more than 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases per day. PCR testing demand was extremely high, and the likely number of actual cases is much higher.

Jan. 14: Connecticut peaks at 1,895 hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the omicron wave.

Jan 31: Connecticut surpasses 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

Feb. 15: Lamont’s emergency powers expire after nearly two years.

March 1: Statewide school mask mandate expires.