Thomas Breen photo
Return of the in-person City Hall briefing Tuesday.
The city and a doctor’s clinic will host a pop-up coronavirus testing site on the Green Wednesday as part of an effort to encourage all New Haveners — regardless of whether or not they’re feeling sick — to get tested for Covid-19.
The Green, which will host a pop-up testing site on Wednesday.
Mayor Justin Elicker and city Health Director Maritza Bond announced that new testing pop-up Tuesday morning during the mayor’s daily coronavirus-related press briefing.
For the first time in over two months, the presser took place not online via Zoom, but in person on the front steps of City Hall. The mayor, health director, and a sign language interpreter were joined by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal — as well as by nearly 10 reporters.
Reporters at Tuesday’s presser.
The last such in-person municipal update took place on March 20 on the front steps of 200 Orange St. Back then, New Haven had eight confirmed local Covid-19 cases and zero related fatalities.
On Tuesday, Elicker said the city has 2,387 confirmed positive cases and 100 associated deaths.
“That’s a pretty grim milestone,” he said.
Elicker said that he decided to host Tuesday’s press conference in person in part to draw attention to Wednesday’s pop-up testing site on the Green.
Bond said the site will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be located not far from the flagpole on the lower Green. And it will be run by the city in partnership with volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps and clinicians from Murphy Medical Associates. That’s the same clinic that runs the Day Street Park testing site in Dwight, the Lincoln Bassett School Wednesday morning site in Newhallville, and the Hill Central School Friday morning site in the Hill.
“New Haven is starting to test both symptomatic and asymptomatic people,” said Elicker (pictured). He said that from the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak in mid-March to, roughly, the present, the city only had enough testing capacity at various sites around the city to test those who are sick.
That’s no longer the case, he said. The city now has more testing capacity than people turning out to get tested. He encouraged everyone to get tested, particularly people who work in food service, retail, and other businesses where they come into frequent contact with others.
He said increased testing and contact tracing are key for helping the city and state understand where the virus is in a community, who needs to quarantine, and who needs to isolate in order to stem community spread.
“Anyone can get tested,” he reiterated. “There are no barriers to getting tested whatsoever.” The tests are free at the point of service, and as open to the uninsured and undocumented as they are to anyone else. Elicker said that he and Bond joined 20 New Haven asymptomatic local clergy at the Day Street testing site earlier Tuesday morning as they got tested.
“I haven’t gone for a test yet because I had believed until now that only people who are symptomatic should receive tests,” Blumenthal said. “Now we’re just reaching the point where we’re beginning to test people who are not symptomatic.”
He stressed that it is particularly important for those who think they might have been exposed to the virus to get tested, considering how many likely asymptomatic carriers there are in the country. “If you feel you may have been exposed, now is the time to be tested.”
Click here for a list of all current city testing sites.
Other updates included:
• Blumenthal (pictured) promoted the roughly $3 trillion HEROES Act passed by the House of Representatives and up for debate by the U.S. Senate. Blumenthal said the Senate is currently on recess, and will resume next Monday. He said the bill would provide much-needed state and local aid, including roughly $181 million for New Haven and roughly $3.9 billion for all Connecticut towns and cities this fiscal year. Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump have both expressed no interest in working with Democrats on passing another coronavirus-related relief bill anytime soon.
• Bond (pictured) said that the local health department received only one complaint over the weekend about a businesse allegedly in violation of the governor’s Phase 1 reopening safety guidelines. She declined to identify the name of the business, but said that it is a drive through restaurant on Whalley Avenue. She said the restaurant’s employees were allegedly not wearing face masks at work. She said she immediately called the manager and ordered him to issue a memo to staff with the public safety guidelines. She also said she would be making a surprise inspection visit at the restaurant later this week.
• Bond also said that, as of May 21, the Advanced Nursing nursing home in the Hill has 96 positive coronavirus cases, the Grimes Center has 83 cases, Mary Wade Home has 54, and RegalCare has 52. As for Covid-19 related untimely deaths, Advanced Nursing has eight, Grimes has three, Mary Wade has 18, and RegalCare has five.
Why did this press conference need to be in person? The zoom ones seemed to work well. of course, Bloomie cannot get in the picture frame when Elicker is alone in his office.