Official Warns CT Not Ready For Coronavirus, Governor Disagrees

CONNECTICUT — With a “sense of measured urgency,” a state emergency preparedness official sounded the alarm Wednesday morning: Connecticut is not ready for the coronavirus.

But Gov. Ned Lamont said in a coronavirus preparedness news briefing late Wednesday afternoon with state public health and emergency management officials from the Emergency Operations Center in Hartford that "Connecticut is ready."

This comes a day after an official declaration and warning Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease that the spread of coronavirus across the U.S. is inevitable.

"I understand this whole situation may seem overwhelming and that disruption to everyday life may be severe," Dr. Nancy Messonnier said, "but these are things that people need to start thinking about now. You should think about what you would do for child care if schools or day cares closed."

Tuesday, CDC posted on its official Twitter account after saying person-to-person transmission was likely.

Gov. Lamont said during the Wednesday briefing that since the CDC "upped the ante, that means we gotta be ready."

But Chief Michael A. Spera, president of the Connecticut Emergency Management Association, said in a letter to Lamont earlier in the day that there’s “credible information” that there’s already a “significant shortage of personal protective equipment available” nationwide. And in particular, he wrote, there's a “very limited supply of N 95 particulate filter masks are being shipped to any distributor a vendor in the US.”

The N 95 mask filters at least 95 percent of airborne particles, the CDC says. It's the mask to be used with a virus like novel corona, now called COVID-19.

But, the 3M-produced mask is not available, a cursory search revealed. And Amazon says it "does not know when or if" it will become available.

Spera said: “Simply put there is a significant concern” that when doctors and hospitals run out “there will be none available to replace the supply this obviously puts first responders in healthcare professionals at personal risk …”

And Lamont admitted there are shortages saying "there's a scramble" to locate equipment and said hospital officials are "sourcing equipment right now."

Lamont said state officials have "hourly communication with the CDC."
"I feel like Connecticut is a little ahead of the game," he said as he continued to reassure the public.

"This call is not to make you nervous, this is a call to give you confidence," Lamont said. "We're moving into the unknown. This thing is moving really, really fast but we want you to feel confident" that the state is ready.

In Spera's letter to Lamont, he said, "It is not unrealistic to imagine a scenario where the state is forced to prepare for and or respond to an outbreak. If this were to happen there may not be an adequate supply.”

He asked Lamont to “take immediate action” by:

• Getting personal gear including masks, gowns, Tyvek suits, and Biocell ambulance protection systems from the federal government.
• Consider partially activating the state emergency operation center
• Do an immediate audit of resources
• Review, revise and exercise pandemic response plans
• Ensure previously identified quarantine facilities are available
• Review, revise and exercise mass vaccination plans should a vaccine become available
• Conduct a briefing for elected officials and safety officials

Spera’s letter was copied to members of Congress, state legislators on the public safety and security and public health committees, among myriad other state emergency and health officials.

CEMA Letter to Gov. Lamont ... by Ellyn Santiago on Scribd

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Reaction From Public Officials

The Trump administration sent an emergency funding request for $2.5 billion to address the virus. But some lawmakers say it's not enough and should have been done far sooner.

Sen. Chris Murphy, who was copied on Spera’s letter, tweeted Tuesday that Pres. Donald “Trump has put no one in charge of Coronavirus."

"He is pushing cuts to the budgets of all the agencies that fight pandemics. He shut down 37 of 47 global anti-pandemic programs. Trump made a choice to make us vulnerable...to this pandemic and the next one and the next one."

But Trump begs to differ.

A Vaccine Is A Year Away, At Soonest. But It's The Test For The Virus That's The Problem Now

There is no vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus, as there is against influenza. Scientists around the world are racing to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus, although none currently exists and federal health officials cautioned that a vaccine is not on a near horizon.

A bio-tech company, Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, shipped vials of its novel coronavirus vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Moderna tweeted that it's anticipated their proposed vaccine will be tested in a "Phase 1 study" by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Matthew Carter, Connecticut's chief epidemiologist, said that so far it's been about containment to "slow things down," but admitted that not only is there no vaccine, there's no anti-viral medication to treat it.

"Things are moving quite rapidly, but we have a window of opportunity to get ready," Carter said. "What's ahead is challenging, there's no good pretending its not going to come. The saying 'prepare for the worst, hope for the best;' now is the time to prepare."

The Washington Post reported that the test used to identify coronavirus is "faulty," and not available in any event so few have actually been tested.

"Experts fear the small number of U.S. covid-19 cases reflects limited testing rather than a lack of infections," the Post wrote.

Local Scares As COVID-19 Spreads Across The Globe

At least 80,000 people have been infected and 2,700 people have died from the noval coronavirus, creating a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. It is spreading so quickly overseas that infectious disease experts and scientists warn there may be no way to contain it.
Connecticut has had coronavirus scares.

A Wesleyan student who recently returned from a trip to Asia had a fever and cough and was isolated, but ultimately tested negative for COVID-19.

In Uncasville, a St. Bernard School student who traveled to China was likewise monitored after showing respiratory symptoms similar to those of the new virus, but was later cleared.

Another feared coronavirus victim, a high school student from China participating in a conference at Yale University in New Haven, had been placed in isolation before testing positive for only influenza.

The CDC said Monday that 53 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the United States. Three dozen of the patients are among passengers repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined for weeks off the coast of Japan; three patients were infected in Wuhan, China, the center of the outbreak, and the others contracted the virus while traveling abroad.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news conference Monday the "sudden increase in new cases" outside of China is "deeply concerning."

Is It The Flu Or Is It Coronavirus

The symptoms of the new coronavirus are similar to seasonal influenza, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Both are infectious respiratory illnesses, but they’re caused by different viruses.

Both cause fever, cough, body aches and fatigue, and can result in pneumonia. Both illnesses can sometimes cause vomiting and diarrhea. Both can be spread from person to person by sneezing, coughing or talking.

Common good-health practices such as frequent hand-washing, covering coughs and staying home from work or school during the course of the illness can help control the spread of both illnesses.

Neither responds to antibiotic treatment, but both may be treated by addressing symptoms, such as reducing fever. Both illnesses can be severe enough to require hospitalization.

Johns Hopkins says there is some evidence COVID-19 could be airborne, "meaning that tiny droplets remaining in the air could cause disease in others even after the ill person is no longer near."

Jennifer Jackson, CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association, said she wanted people to be assured that "hospitals are prepared" to treat people with the virus.

Read the Governor's full remarks here:

Since January, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has taken the lead for state response and has been working to coordinate with the federal government, local health departments, hospitals, and educational institutions to provide to provide guidance on how to prepare, including through weekly briefing calls with local health departments. DPH Commissioner Renée D. Coleman-Mitchell is in Washington, D.C. today meeting with her federal counterparts and other state health directors to coordinate response. Yesterday, DPH issued guidance to all K-12 schools and local health departments for dealing with potential cases.

DPH’s official website with updated information on state response to coronavirus, as well as resources for Connecticut schools, healthcare practitioners, and residents, can be found by visiting ct.gov/coronavirus.

“Although we have no confirmed cases of coronavirus on Connecticut, we must be prepared for any situation and that is why we are continuing to take all necessary precautions to protect Connecticut from this dangerous virus,” Governor Lamont said. “This is serious, and we are working with our health care system and schools to ensure that our efforts are coordinated and people are prepared.”

Commissioner Coleman-Mitchell this week took the step of adding coronavirus to the list of reportable diseases, requiring all physicians in Connecticut to report new cases or patients under investigation to DPH. This will help with active disease monitoring and surveillance, as well as coordination nationally with CDC. The State Public Health Lab in Rocky Hill is also slated to receive a kit from CDC to be able to test for coronavirus locally. The first kit – once prepared and tested – will be able to test results from 800 people for coronavirus.

Travelers who spent time in mainland China within 14 days before arriving in the United States are being diverted to land at one of eleven airports in the U.S. (Bradley International Airport is not one of these airports). In the airport, they are asked questions about their travel and whether they have been in contact with anyone with coronavirus. They also have their temperature taken and are asked about their health.

Travelers who have been in Hubei Province, China, or are sick, are referred for medical evaluation and are not allowed to continue to their final destinations. Travelers who have not been in Hubei Province and who are well are given information about self-monitoring and continue to their final destinations. For those who arrived on or after February 3, 2020, the local health department at their destination is notified and will contact them to discuss self-monitoring and other recommendations.

CDC has informed DPH of several Connecticut residents who are not showing any symptoms of virus but who have recently returned from traveling to China and are now in a 14-day period of self-monitoring for signs of coronavirus. This includes daily health and temperature checks, checking in with health care providers, while staying at home and away from work or large gatherings of people other than to purchase groceries or other essential items. People with a travel history to China and no symptoms can return to work or school after the 14-day self-monitoring period is complete. There is no clearance process. People without symptoms are not tested for the virus.

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses common in both humans and animals. These viruses usually cause mild to moderate respiratory illnesses. The source of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is suspected to be animals sold at an open-air market, in Wuhan, China; the virus is possibly a previously unrecognized bat coronavirus. It appears to cause a more severe illness progressing to pneumonia.

Patch Editor Rich Scinto contributed reporting.