Gov. Ned Lamont announced that public health officials have confirmed that the first two cases of the Covid-19 variant ”“ B.1.1.7, initially discovered in the United Kingdom ”“ have been detected in Connecticut.
The two individuals, between 15 and 25 years old, both reside in New Haven County. They had recently traveled outside Connecticut ”“ one to Ireland and the other to New York state ”“ and both developed symptoms within three to four days of their return.
Genetic sequencing of the virus has confirmed that the two cases are unrelated. The individuals”™ specimens were collected earlier this month and subsequently tested positive.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has notified the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the cases.
Appearing with Lamont at his daily briefing this afternoon, acting Commissioner of the Department of Social Services Deidre Gifford said that, moving forward, if one receives a positive Covid test result, they should assume they have the B.1.1.7 variant. The state does not conduct genomic sequences on each positive case it records; “We just do a sample,” she said.
Gifford and Lamont both said that standard Covid protocols ”“ wearing a mask, social distancing, and vaccinations ”“ would be sufficient in battling the new strain.
As for vaccinations, Lamont said that over 100,000 doses have been administered to date, and that some 1,800 people have received the required second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
The governor said Connecticut would be taking an approach to providing vaccinations somewhere between the “micromanagement” approach and the “Wild West” strategy he said has resulted in long lines and confusion in other states.
“We could handle more doses,” he said. “Bring it on ”“ don’t hold back.”
The first round of vaccinations for persons designated 1A ”“ health care workers, hospital employees and long-term care residents and staff ”“ should be completed over the next two to three weeks, Lamont said; finalization of who will be included in the 1B and 1C designations, as well as a tentative timeline for vaccinations, will be available next week.
Connecticut has now recorded 202,758 cases and 6,287 deaths; hospitalizations have declined since yesterday by 52, to 1,087. Gifford said that about 78% of the state’s hospital beds are currently occupied. The daily infection rate, which has fluctuated wildly over the past several weeks, stands at 6.28%.
Admitting that yesterday was “a heck of a day here in Hartford and down in D.C.,” Lamont said he was “shocked and appalled” at the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “Yesterday was tragic,” he said.
He did not, however, join the growing chorus of lawmakers — over 100 members of Congress — who are calling for Donald Trump’s removal from the Presidency. “There are 13 days” left in Trump’s term, he noted.
Nevertheless, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) this afternoon called upon Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would allow for the removal of Trump if he and a majority of the Cabinet agree.
If Pence does not act, they said, Democrats could impeach Trump for a second time.
“While it”™s only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America,” Pelosi said. Calling Trump”™s actions yesterday a “seditious act,” she asked of the Cabinet: “Are they ready to say for the next 13 days this dangerous man can assault our democracy?”
