HARTFORD, Conn. —
Local and state officials are working together to prepare for the possible spread of the coronavirus in the state.
At a news briefing Wednesday at the State Armory, Governor Ned Lamont expressed Connecticut is prepared to combat the spread of the coronavirus if and when it makes its way to the state.
“Making sure we can provide all the support we can for our hospitals and our healthcare providers, making sure that they are ready to get all the supplies and personnel they need,” Lamont said.
Health officials said this isn’t a last minute operation, they’ve been working on monitoring and preparing for the coronavirus since January.
“I want the public to be assured that hospitals are prepared to care for patients with Connecticut, this is what hospitals do, we regularly prepare, we plan, and we train for outbreak of disease,” CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association Jennfier Jackson said.
Lamont said the state’s medical system has the equipment that healthcare and public safety providers may need responding to an outbreak, such as gloves, filtering face masks and protective suits.
“It will be like a seasonal flu, it will come, it will pass through, and we’ll need to take precautions that we have not had to do before because there will be no vaccine,” DPH State Epidemiologist Dr. Matthew Cartter said.
To date 60 people have become infected with the virus in the U.S. There's been one person in New England Massachusetts - but so far, no cases in Connecticut.
“We will identify them, we will isolate them and we will treat them, we are prepared to care for these patients,” Jackson said.
According to Lamont, the state’s Public Health Commissioner, Renee D. Coleman-Mitchell, is in Washington D.C., staying on top of the country’s efforts to protect against the virus.
For more on the coronavirus, click here.