While telling residents that they're not likely to become critically ill even if they acquire the COVID-19 Coronavirus, experts at a forum hosted by Quinnipiac University and the Town of Hamden say it's best to be prepared for possible disruptions at home, school and work.
The Thursday night forum came as Gov. Ned Lamont wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control, asking for state access to more COVID-19 test kits and the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) issued a "Planning Tool" document to educators, students and parents.
The experts at the Hamden event, mostly representing Quinnipiac, told about twenty residents in attendance not to panic, but to arm themselves with accurate information and to be ready for the virus to land in the state.
"I wouldn't be alarmed," said Dwayne Boucaud, Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Quinnipiac, "I think the best thing is to educate yourself as best as you can, and to act on that."
Boucaud went on to warn attendees about the mass of false and misleading information being issued about Coronavirus. He says it's vital that conspiracy theories and guesswork about the virus be disregarded.
Quinnipiac Law School Professor John Thomas is concerned that President Trump has issued a number of statements contradicting experts on the disease: "It's not helpful for any member of our government to downplay the significance (of the Coronavirus outbreak), because what that does is it leads us not to believe anything."
Governor Lamont's concerns with the federal government is more direct. He tells the CDC that Connecticut expects a rising demand for COVID-19 testing.
In his letter to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, the governor writes that the state has a "very limited supply" of test kits. He adds, "I respectfully request theability to access additional testing kits to support the heightened demand for COVID-19 testing in Connecticut."
As of Thursday night, the state reported no known cases of the virus here, but the Department of Public Health has said its arrival is inevitable, as all three bordering states -- New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island -- have a growing count of documented infections.
In one section of its "Planning Tool" statement, CSDE writes that unless closures have been ordered by state or federal officials, Coronavirus-related school closures remain a local decision. (You can find a link to the CSDE document in the "blue bar" just below this article.)