CT Lawmakers Push Back Against Coronavirus Testing Policies

CONNECTICUT — State lawmakers are pushing back against federal coronavirus testing policies.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control reversed previous coronavirus safety guidelines. The agency no longer recommends testing for those who have been in close contact with coronavirus patients, as long as they show no symptoms.

The inevitable effect will be to dramatically cut down on the number of people who are tested for the virus, Connecticut officials said.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he will ignore the new guidance from the CDC, because "If you've been exposed, you can be a carrier, you can be infectious well before you show symptoms. So, we want you to get tested."

Connecticut has so far tested 1,111,401 residents for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and currently averages more than 15,000 tests daily. In a news conference, the governor said the state would "stick with what works."

Lamont along with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, and Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey released a joint statement regarding what they said are the federal government’s decision to "weaken COVID-19 testing guidelines."

“The CDC has been a consistent, credible, and reliable guide for our nation for decades, providing clear and science-based guidance on everything from infectious disease to vaccines," the three governors said in a statement. "That role is vital to our collective public health and it must continue. This 180-degree reversal of COVID-19 testing guidelines is reckless, and not based on science and has the potential to do long-term damage to the institution’s reputation.

“CDC and HHS have not shared their scientific rationale for this change in policy, which substitutes sound science-based public health guidance with the President’s misinformation. This abrupt and ill-informed shift threatens the robust testing regimes our states have worked tirelessly to stand up with our federal partners.

“Health experts recommend testing close contacts of individuals with COVID-19 to identify and prevent asymptomatic spread. This type of robust testing by our states has been a key factor in our success so far to flatten the curve in the tristate area.

“New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will continue to follow the advice of health experts to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and therefore will not be changing our guidance that prioritizes testing for this population," the three governors' statement concludes.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a multi-part post on Twitter, railed against what he called the Trump administration's refusal to establish a national testing strategy. He cites the current turnaround time for test results at New Britain's community health center as three days, which is "not good." Murphy says that's prime time for an infection to spread.

"Trump has refused to build the additional lab capacity nationally to reduce these wait times," Murphy tweeted.

The state can't build out capacity, according to the senator, because "the testing industry is national. Only HHS (The Department of Health & Human Services) and partner federal agencies can expand this capacity, but they simply refuse. Outrageous."

The lack of additional lab capacity is going to hamstring states like Connecticut once schools reopen, according to Murphy, because there is no way to do broad, population based testing.

"So when an outbreak at a school happens, we likely won't find out until it's too late (especially since the kids are likely to be asymptomatic)."

Murphy says he is particularly frustrated by the Trump administration's unwillingness to "build the kind of scale" that would reduce the cost of a population based testing process "that could provide a cheap, easy option with no supply chain issues."

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