Just three weeks after Gov. Ned Lamont announced that Connecticut had its first confirmed Coronavirus patient, there are 1,291 known cases around the state.
27 people have died.
And the governor believes it's just getting started.
At his Friday afternoon briefing, Gov. Lamont said the 173 people now hospitalized with COVID-19 are the start of "the surge."
The long-anticipated spike in cases is expected to test the strength and resiliency of Connecticut's healthcare system. In the interest of reinforcing the system, the governor and state COO Josh Geballe are hoping that delivery of various orders of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) begin to flow.
"3,000 thermometers-- very important because that's the way to self-test people,,, I'm pretty sure that'll be here next week," said Gov. Lamont at his daily briefing Friday. "Surgical gowns... delayed until next month."
National demand for PPE is vastly outweighing supply, leading to challenging financial decisions for hospitals.
Hartford Healthcare President & CEO Jeffrey Flaks spoke at the govenor's briefing. He says in this situation, it's worthwhile to pay extra for equipment that will save lives.
"We're spending at this point, in many instances, up to ten times the original value of product, because, at moments like this, we're not worried at all about the economics. We're worried about how we serve the communities."
While no one can predict how long the governor's "Stay Safe, Stay at Home" order will last, Flaks believes that Connecticut will see its peak of cases "around the second week in April."