Lamont To Chair Coronavirus Group For Governor Association

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont was named the co-chair of the National Governors Associations pandemic and distaste response task force. The task force is one of three designed to help states coordinate a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The task force will work on issues including testing, vaccine, supply chains and personal protective equipment. It will also tackle broader issues such as cybersecurity and health care.

Lamont thanked NGA Chairman and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the appointment.

“Our state was hit early and hit hard by this pandemic. Throughout this unprecedented crisis, I have worked with my neighboring governors to ensure our responses were coordinated," Lamont said in a statement. "Our state has provided leadership and ingenuity, as we know our approach saved lives. Our public health professionals set up nation-leading testing and contact tracing infrastructure, which have assisted in our response to the coronavirus pandemic."

Lamont said he also plans to take ideas about responding to severe weather incidents to the task force. Tropical Storm Isaias was Connecticut's most destructive storm under Lamont's tenure. Hundreds of thosuands of electric utility customers lost power and some had to wait more than a week for Eversource to restore power.

Connecticut passed a utility reform law that mandates account credits and spoiled food reimbursement for long-term outages. It also allows for increased penalties for poor storm response and minimum staffing mandates for forecasted severe storm.