White House Coronavirus Task Force Optimistic About CT
CONNECTICUT — The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report was optimistic about Connecticut’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but recommended the state keep a close eye on infections connected to colleges and universities. The report was obtained by The Center for Public Integrity.
“Overall control of the epidemic remains good; Connecticut has seen a decrease in cases last week after 2 weeks of upticks,” the report's authors wrote.
The state’s positive coronavirus test rate was 1.6 percent last week, a 0.3 percent drop from the previous week. The national rate was 4.3 percent last week.
The report, dated Sunday, came before Connecticut’s Tuesday report, which saw an increase in the number of people hospitalized. Gov. Ned Lamont said he believed the increase was a short-term issue.
The task force noted there are outbreaks reported at colleges, including the University of Connecticut and Sacred Heart University.
“While the numbers of cases are modest, transmission is continuing," the report's authors wrote. “Sacred Heart reported 87 cases in the past 7 days, almost 9% of the state total.”
The task force was complimentary of Connecticut’s rules and guidelines to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. “Connecticut has done well with controlling spread in large part due to a well thought-out, gradated set of social distancing measures for communities based on transmission indicators. The careful, gradual relaxation in restrictions conditional on case stability is commended as is the continued restrictions on bars.”
Connecticut is scheduled to have its third reopening phase on Oct. 8. Capacity at indoor restaurants will rise to 75 percent and there will be greater capacity for commercial indoor and outdoor events for events like weddings.
The task force recommended Connecticut use its share of the Abbott Labs rapid coronavirus test for congregate settings and to monitor the spread of the virus in K-12 schools. Lamont announced Tuesday that the state plans to do just that.
Read The Center for Public Integrity’s full state report repository here.
See also: Adam Sandler Visits Connecticut Eatery
This article originally appeared on the Across Connecticut Patch
