Danbury Coronavirus Update: Mobile Army Hospital Installed

DANBURY, CT — Mayor Mark Boughton and Danbury Hospital are gearing up to have enough facilities in place for what they expect to be a marked increase in new coronavirus patients, but the situation is fluid, as they like to say in the army.

And that's exactly where the 25 newest beds are from. Crews from the international, national and state guard were in the city Wednesday setting up an army field hospital on the grounds of Danbury Hospital.

"This is not to take in people from New York or from some other part of the country," Boughton said, "This is simply to deal with the triage system that the hospital is setting up."

The facility does not have any patients waiting for it, but will be on standby for the anticipated influx.

The state now has 875 confirmed coronavirus cases, 113 hospitalizations and 19 deaths. Fairfield County continues to see the majority of cases with 546 positive results; New Haven County has the second most at 127.

Don't miss updates in Connecticut concerning the Coronavirus as they are announced. Sign up for Patch alerts and newsletters

Testing capacity varies by the day in the state due to a shortage of testing reagent material. The state is prioritizing testing patients in hospitals first.

Boughton said the field hospital could be used for some people who might not require hospitalization but may have symptoms of COVID-19, or may be COVID-19 positive, or may not be COVID-19 positive at all.

"Don't over read into that," the mayor said on a Facebook livestream. "And don't panic."

Army getting ready to set up Field Hospital at Danbury Hospital. #Danbury #COVID19 https://t.co/ieHJiG0vQa pic.twitter.com/XBPqYDJwsY
— Mayor Mark Boughton (@MayorMark) March 25, 2020

If the swift assembly of the field hospital might be counted as "two steps forward" in the City's battle with the coronavirus pandemic, could the inevitable "one step back" be that far behind?

The state pulled the plug early Wednesday on its plan to use state schools, including Western Connecticut State University, as emergency shelters for the homeless population. WCSU was preparing Fairfield Hall, a 108-bed building on the Midtown campus in Danbury, as Boughton and his team prepped to relocate the homeless temporarily housed in the War Memorial.

"It is discouraging to have this fall through after days of organizing and planning, but things happen," Boughton told Patch. "We are continuing to work on securing new locations for our homeless population, including hotel options. As of now, we will continue to maintain our shelter at the War Memorial."

"Just be assured that every person that wants shelter will receive shelter."

The mayor says his administration is working on a "longer term plan" to move people out of the War Memorial and into hotels that will be paid for by the state and "scattered throughout Fairfield County."

Danbury counted its first fatality to the new virus on Wednesday. The number of cases overall doubles every three to five days, and testing is only showing the tip of the iceberg, according to the state Department of Public Health.