Officials: State Ready For 2nd Covid Surge

Governor, mayor, top teams assess pandemic at public health forum in town.

That message emerged Tuesday during a panel discussion with top state and local government and health officials on the impact of Covid-19 on Connecticut.

Yale School of Public Health hosted the discussion, which was a welcome event for incoming students. Gov. Ned Lamont, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, New Haven Health Director Maritza Bond, and the chairs of the governor’s reopening task force, Indra Nooyi and Yale’s Dr. Albert Ko, were among the participants.

The bulk of the hour-long discussion consisted of speakers patting themselves and state residents on the back for Connecticut’s nation-leading success in keeping Covid-19 infection rates at or below 1 percent — even while gradually reopening the economy starting in June. They noted that Connecticut residents have bought into social distancing and mask-wearing more than people in most other states. They also noted New Haven’s early successful efforts to get ahead of the virus’s spread, including an internationally recognized partnership with Yale graduate students to conduct contract tracing before the state instituted its own process.

Moderator Sten Vermund (pictured), the public health school dean, did ask Mayor Elicker what in retrospect New Haven could have done differently to contain the virus even more.

Elicker replied that in hindsight the city should have paid more attention early on to nursing homes and assisted living facilities (a conclusion shared by officials in communities worldwide). He didn’t elaborate on what specifically New Haven could have done differently. Vermund noted that 63 percent of Connecticut’s Covid-related deaths have been traced to those facilities.

Toward the end of the discussion, Vermund asked Ko about an expected second surge expected to begin in either November or December to coincide with flu season.

Ko, Yale’s chair of epidemiology of microbial diseases, responded that based on new surges in Spain, Italy, and France, Connecticut should expect a second surge even without the added stress of influenza.

“We’re particularly concerned” about the virus spreading anew as people spend more time indoors, including in restaurants, as the weather turns colder, Ko said.

Gov. Lamont called the next two to three months ​“crucial” to keeping the virus at bay in the state.

Asked by Vermund how Connecticut will respond differently this time from last February and March, Ko responded that the state now has an increased testing capacity that didn’t exist at the beginning of the virus. He said officials will also be prepared to encourage people to get their flu shots. And the state’s buy-in on prevention measures will also help right from the start this time, he predicted.

“Citizens have taken masks and social distancing to heart. We don’t understand fully why Connecticut is different from Georgia or even Delaware or Pennsylvania” in that regard, but that will ​“certainly” help. He also said Connecticut will benefit from continuing to pursue ​“sound evidence-driven policies … beyond what is expected from the CDC” [Centers for Disease Control].

As a result, we should ​“be in containment mode rather than be in reactive mode” when an expected second surge hits, Ko predicted.

Watch the full discussion above.