{"id":4208,"date":"2022-01-08T14:04:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T14:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=4208"},"modified":"2022-01-08T14:04:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T14:04:27","slug":"surging-covid-test-demand-ripples-through-ct-health-politics-schools-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=4208","title":{"rendered":"Surging COVID test demand ripples through CT health, politics, schools, economy"},"content":{"rendered":"


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An explosion of new COVID infections and hospitalizations has sparked unprecedented demand for testing in every corner of Connecticut that has often overwhelmed health care and government officials scrambling to keep pace.<\/p>\n

The public clamoring for coronavirus tests reached such a fever pitch in recent days \u2013 with demand up at least six-fold in a month for one major health network \u2013 implications have spilled far beyond the medical world, from political strife to concerns about ensuring equal testing access to quarrels over keeping public schools open safely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In response, health care providers and state leaders in recent days made a variety of pledges to expand capacity of both in-person and at-home testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts don\u2019t expect the situation to let up anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect this demand to continue for some time,\u201d said Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer at Hartford HealthCare. \u201cWe are seeing a tremendous demand on testing across the system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

To keep up, some health organizations have rationed their resources.<\/p>\n

One of the state\u2019s biggest providers of in-person testing, Yale New Haven Health, has begun limiting tests for people who don\u2019t have symptoms. Another site, Trinity Health of New England\u2019s drive-through test site at Saint Francis Hospital, shut down because there weren\u2019t enough staff to administer tests after many fell ill.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The desire for testing is being driven by a surge in infections, primarily of the omicron variant, combined with the rising popularity of negative tests as a ticket to social and public events. On Friday, Connecticut\u2019s daily COVID positivity rate reached a new high of 24.5 percent, while hospitalizations continued to inch closer to a pandemic record set in April of 2020. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The state reported an average of 35,700 tests per day in the 15 days ending Friday, compared with an average of 23,300 in the 15 days beginning with Thanksgiving. \u00a0That increase, however, does not reflect what is likely millions of additional at-home tests purchased by the state and by residents on their own.<\/p>\n

Health officials have stressed the variant in most cases appears to be causing more mild cases.<\/p>\n

Josh Geballe, the state\u2019s chief operating officer, said during a recent briefing with news reporters that the administration\u2019s efforts have included asking the state\u2019s existing testing providers to add appointments to their schedules as well as new sites.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The state has also been scrambling to secure and distribute millions of at-home test kits, which are in short supply nationwide at brick-and-mortar and online retailers alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see the lines, we hear the frustration,\u201d Geballe said. \u201cWe are very focused on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Political turmoil<\/h2>\n

Gov. Ned Lamont\u2019s efforts to get at-home test kits into the hands of Connecticut residents got off to a bumpy start just before the new year. The state\u2019s first supply of at-home test kits arrived later and in fewer numbers than originally anticipated after an earlier shipment was abruptly canceled, forcing local leaders to hastily reschedule distribution to residents.<\/p>\n

His critics have pounced on the political fumble, even as the administration has successfully doled out 1.8 million at-home tests in the days since.<\/p>\n

Republicans, including Themis Klarides, the former GOP House leader who is actively considering a run for governor this year, and the head of the state Republican Party continue to fault Lamont for failing to prepare for the surge in demand for testing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In an op-ed in the Connecticut Post on Friday, Klarides said Lamont was \u201ccaught flat-footed\u201d despite projections that the omicron variant \u201cwould disrupt this year\u2019s holiday season.\u201d \u00a0She called on the governor to \u201ccome clean and provide complete transparency\u201d about why the deal fell apart.<\/p>\n

Later Friday, Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, asked for a full accounting of the at-home test kits the Lamont administration \u201chas contractual agreements for\u201d and when more tests will be delivered to cities and towns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of families are still in need and lack other reasonable alternatives to at-home testing\u2014State Covid Testing Sites\u2014because these sites are now overwhelmed,\u201d Berthel said in a letter to Lamont. \u201cAs a result, families presently face hours-long wait times and test shortages with hundreds being turned away.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R- North Branford, said in a statement Tuesday that the confusion over the failed deal warranted further investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like a matter that\u2019s appropriate for Attorney General [William] Tong\u2019s office to investigate, and I think it\u2019s a necessary step if the governor hopes to rebuild some of the trust he\u2019s lost through this debacle,\u201d Candelora said.<\/p>\n

Tong\u2019s office did not say this week whether the attorney general, a Democrat, had plans to investigate the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Max Reiss, the governor\u2019s director of communications, said Friday the administration continues to provide information as shipments come in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to work with suppliers to get more shipments into the state,\u201d Reiss said. \u201cSo far, we\u2019ve delivered 1.8 million tests, which per capita is, I believe, the highest in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said more tests were scheduled to be distributed Saturday to early childhood educators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tests, but for whom?<\/h2>\n

At issue is not just the number of tests, but who gets them. The state\u2019s association of community health centers is charging that Connecticut\u2019s system for distributing the tests is once again widening the gap between the privileged and the state\u2019s lower income residents, many of whom are served by the health centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the last round, we were at the table helping make decisions, and this time, we feel like an outsider,\u201d Ken Lalime, CEO of the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, said in an interview this week.<\/p>\n

As late as Dec. 21, when the health centers asked for money to conduct more testing, Lamont\u2019s administration said the testing in place was adequate. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Separately, organizations representing disabled people have sued the state over access to tests, which they said are distributed in a way that prevents their clients from receiving them.<\/p>\n

And in schools, testing procedures in schools have also been a matter of controversy, as teachers\u2019 unions and other critics say there needs to be more testing in place \u2013 and even the protocols that are in force depend on a supply of tests that could easily run out.<\/p>\n

The plan is for any student sent home sick, or who becomes sick at home, to be given an at-home test. In addition, students known to have been exposed to someone with COVID are also given tests. The Lamont administration distributed 490,000 tests to schools, but that amounts to less than one per student and well under one per person when the tens of thousands of teachers and other staff are included.<\/p>\n

More tests were the first item on a list of nine demands that the teachers\u2019 unions presented. For now, supplies appear adequate but the administration has not been able to promise a steady supply.<\/p>\n