When the COVID-19 crisis started, most of the calls in Connecticut to the 2-1-1 help line were about the virus and whether social distancing was necessary, said Governor Ned Lamont.

During several press conferences late last week, he reiterated how important it is to still stay home to avoid overburdening the state’s already strained healthcare system.

“Social distancing seems to be working,” he said.

MetroNorth was at about five percent of capacity, or down about 95 percent. And he added that it can be eerie to listen to the traffic report in the morning.

“There are no cars on the road...people are taking social distancing seriously,” he said.

Most of the cases in Connecticut are in the southern part of the state, around Fairfield County, and, while the number of those cases are still alarmingly high and in danger of overburdening hospitals, that the rate of increase in Fairfield County appeared to be slowing as of late last week.

He emphasized again how important it was for people to continue to stay at home as much as possible.

“If you’re from New York? It’s a hot zone,” he said.

He said anyone coming to Connecticut from New York should self-quarantine for 14 days and actively self-diagnose before going out “to make sure they are 100 percent healthy.”

And he also said he realized measures to contain the virus, while absolutely necessary, are also creating other significant problems.

“Most of the 211 calls now are about people’s economic situation,” he said. “People are terrified. There are folks who have lost all of their income. They’ve lost their jobs.”

He said the state is creating a bridge loan program for small businesses to help them get from now to the time when federal Small Business Programs might kick in, along with other federal help promised by pending legislation. He also said the state is trying to increase staffing so that there will be more state workers to help people in need and those looking for support.

Information about that is below, along with information about the state’s healthcare system, the difficulty people are having filing unemployment claims and why, the need for blood donations and how to do that safely, and how to shop for groceries safely.

Further Restrictions Mandated

To further reinforce efforts to keep the state’s healthcare system from being overwhelmed, Lamont late last week issued a series of additional restrictions on gatherings and other activities. These were current as of March 26:

• Restricts all social and recreational gatherings to no more than five people: “The order modifies the governor’s earlier executive order placing limits on the amount of people who can participate in social and recreational gatherings and reduces that number to no more than five people, through at least April 30, 2020 unless otherwise modified. This order includes, but is not limited to, community, civic, leisure, or sporting events; parades; concerns; festivals; plays or live performances; conventions and similar activities; except that religious, spiritual, or worship gatherings will remain subject only to the prohibition of 50 persons or more. This does not apply to government operations, private workplaces, retail establishments, or other activities that are not social or recreational gatherings.”

• Restricts restaurant payment and pickup operations: “Where reasonably practicable, the order requires restaurants, eating establishments, and any bars that remain open for sales of food for off-premise consumption to limit entrance of customers or third party delivery personnel into their locations to the minimum extent necessary to pick up and/or pay for orders, use touchless payment systems, and require remote ordering and payment. The order does not require businesses to acquire or use ordering or payment technology that they do not already have, doesn’t prohibit drive-through ordering and pickup, and doesn’t prohibit in-person payment or cash payment where this is no reasonable alternative. Previously issued guidance for hospital and business cafeterias remains in effect.”

• Further restricts retail operations: “The order requires all retail establishments that have been allowed to remain open and permit customers inside to take appropriate and reasonable measures to ensure customers maintain six feet of distance between each other and to manage any resulting lines to maintain such distance while people are waiting to enter. It also requires these establishments, where reasonably practical, to employ touchless payment technology if they already have such technology available and the customer has such technology available.”

• Requires firearm transactions to be conducted by appointment only: “The order requires all retail businesses that sell firearms, ammunition, and other similar components or supplies to conduct all transactions by appointment only in order to limit person-to-person contact as much as possible, effective immediately. Appointments must be limited in order to allow a six-foot distance between any customers and staff in a store, and only customers conducting such transactions will be allowed in the store.”

• Suspension of tax on single-use checkout bags: “The order temporarily suspends certain state statutes in order to suspend any tax on single-use plastic checkout bags at grocery stores and other retail businesses.”

• Prohibits employers from requiring employees to place items in customers’ reusable bags: “The order prohibits employers of any grocery store or retail business from requiring their employees to bag items into a customer-provided reusable bag. Customers are still permitted to use reusable bags, but they may need to bag their own items.”

• Suspends 21-month limit on Temporary Family Assistance: “The order modifies certain statutes and regulations to exclude from the 21-month time limit on receipt of Temporary Family Assistance all months of such assistance received during the public health and civil preparedness emergency. Suspending the time limit for this program will help families get the time and resources they need to get back on their path to self-sufficiency after the emergency is over.”

• Suspends school testing assessments for the 2019-2020 school year: “Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major disruption on schools, the order waives all annual student assessment testing requirements for the current school year.”

Providing a Bridge

Lamont said an emergency no-interest loan program for Connecticut small businesses and non-profit organizations affected by COVID-19 has been launched, one that would provide one-year, no-interest loans of up to $75,000, intended to serve as a bridge until federal Small Business Association grants and loans might kick in, along with other federal relief. The new program will be administered by the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

“We have been in close communication with our small business and nonprofit communities throughout this crisis and certainly understand their sense of urgency,” DECD Commissioner David Lehman said in a prepared release.

The Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program will make $25 million available to Connecticut businesses and nonprofits that have 100 or fewer employees to assist with cash flow. Loan amounts are up to the lesser of either three months operating expenses and/or $75,000, the press release said.

“We know that our small businesses and nonprofits have been hit hard by the public safety measures put into place to prevent the spread of this disease,” Lamont said. “This program was designed to provide immediate financial assistance to help these organizations maintain operations and get through this difficult time.”

Provisions and eligibility requirements include:

• Zero percent interest rate;

• 12-month term with 6-month extension per request;

• Personal guaranty and credit score required;

• Approval contingent upon business being profitable prior to March 10, 2020 and no adverse personal credit reports 60 days past due for the last 6 months; and

• Ineligible companies include those involved in real estate, multi-level marketing, adult entertainment, cannabis, and firearms.

All eligibility and application information can be found on the state’s COVID-19 website at ct.gov/coronavirus.

Additional eligibility information and guidance on the application process will be published soon at ct.gov/coronavirus.

Trouble Filing for Unemployment Assistance

Also late last week, Lamont and other officials discussed the massive number of unemployment claims being filed, and how many of those applicants have had the frustrating experience of having the computer system crash under the load.

They said that is due in part to the extraordinarily large number of claims, well over 100,000 as of the end of last week, combined with an ancient computer system that was due to be replaced in nine months.

The unemployment claim system is running on a COBALT system that is 40 years old.

“It’s scheduled to be replaced, but not soon enough,” Lamont said, adding that the state was “scrambling” to try to address the problems.

One solution they are trying to implement, to meet the needs of the state’s residents for the state’s help, is to call in former employees, and to otherwise staff up so that there will be someone on the other end of the line when people in need call for help.

Trying to Find a Balance

Asked by reporters if stricter mandates should be put in place relating to gatherings and people going out, Lamont said he was trying to strike a balance between adopting best practices for reducing the spread of the disease while allowing people some degree of autonomy and liberty.

The problem with people getting lax about going out in public or gathering in groups is that the virus might spread so rapidly that hospitals would not be able to handle the patients, and the morgues would not be able to process the bodies, a harrowing situation already occurring in parts of Europe. New York City’s support systems are already near the breaking point, with some doctors describing the situation in Brooklyn as being in “disaster mode,” with test kits and protective gear in short supply, doctors and other health professionals falling sick, and the patient numbers climbing, according to a report in The New York Times.

‘Nothing Like This Has Happened in 100 Years’

When asked about when the epidemic might peak, Dr. Matthew Carter, the top epidemiologist for the state Department of Public Health, said it would be hard to predict.

“Nothing like this has happened in a hundred years,” he said. “None of us have ever seen anything like this...this is uncharted territory for all of us.” He said every hospital in the state is trying to free up additional beds. On a positive note, the rate of increase does seem to be slowing in Fairfield County, hospitals in New Haven and Hartford had not yet been inundated as of the end of last week, and the eastern part of the state was relatively unaffected as of late last week, in terms of hospital capacity.“It would be great if we could keep it that way,” he said.

But he added “we now know it doubles every three to five days,” and that there are thousands of cases statewide. “This is the tip of the iceberg.”

He said testing is still not at optimal levels, while there have been some improvements from past weeks. He said the state lab and the one at Yale New Haven Hospital are able to produce test results fairly quickly, while the testing done through Quest and other similar services being used by drive-through testing sites might take four to six days for results, which is why the state and Yale labs are being used for acute cases, while the drive-in clinics provide results for less serious cases in four to six days.

He said new faster tests are being developed, but that a looming shortage of reagents, the chemical that determines whether COVID-19 is in the sample, threatens the future availability of wider testing.

Mobile Hospitals Set Up

Working with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), the Governor’s Foot and Horse Guard units are setting up a mobile field hospital on the grounds of Danbury Hospital with the goal of having it operable by late last week. A mobile hospital has already been set up on the grounds of Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford. A third mobile field hospital is planned for the grounds of Middlesex Hospital in Middletown soon.

PPE Donations Needed

Donations of personal protective equipment are being accepted. The equipment is in critically short supply, endangering the health of health care workers. Updates on the shortage, what is being done about it, and how to donate it can be found at portal.ct.gov/coronavirus.

Local police and fire departments are accepting donations of masks and other personal protective equipment as well

Blood Donations Needed

Connecticut Red Cross is asking blood donors to make an appointment to give during this critical time. Many blood drives have been canceled due to the need to reduce gatherings of people. The Red Cross of Connecticut has now set up a process for people to call ahead and make an appointment to donate blood, and proper social distancing can be practiced. For more information, or to make an appointment to give, visit www.redcrossblood.org to make an appointment.

To Find Out More

The most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, including an FAQ and other guidance and resources, is available at ct.gov/coronavirus. General questions that are not answered on the website can be addressed by calling 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance and TDD/TTY access. It is for people who have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone experiencing symptoms or have medical related questions should contact their medical provider.

How to Grocery Shop Safely

Hartford Healthcare recently published an article about how to grocery shop safely during the COVID-19 crisis. It provided these tips:

• Determine the best time to go. Some stores have provided special hours for older people, but in some cases that has backfired, creating crowds of older people. If you go into a store and it’s full, come back another time.

• Come prepared with sanitizer wipes in case the store does not have any. Wipe down shopping cart handles and any other surfaces you must touch.

• Don’t ignore the fresh produce just because it’s out on a shelf. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to keep your immune system healthy. Here’s how to do it safely: “Get two produce bags. Put your hand inside one, using it as a glove to pick up fruit or vegetables before placing them in the second bag. (When you get home, clean that produce properly...Wearing vinyl gloves into the store won’t necessarily help, experts say. You could touch viral particles with the glove, which would protect your hands, but if you then touched your face with a gloved hand you’d risk infection,” the article from Hartford Healthcare says.

• Reusable bags or buy a paper bag? “Your call. A reusable bag can pick up bacteria or, worse, coronavirus viral particles. If you bring your own bag, make sure to wipe it down with a disinfectant or sanitizer after unloading groceries at home,” the article says.

• When you get home, give any plastic, metal, or glass a quick wipe down with a soap-and-water solution.

Find out more tips by reading the article. Find it by going to Google and searching on “Hartford Healthcare: How to Avoid COVID-19 at the Supermarket.”