As part of the plan to safely reopen Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont set a goal to more than double the number of weekly COVID-19 tests administered between May 20 and June 20.
But over the past week, the state hasn’t found enough patients to fill its current testing capacity, let alone double it, raising questions about the state’s plans to move forward with opening gyms, movie theaters and other businesses on June 20.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin has raised concerns about a similar lack of demand for testing in the Capital city. And at a press conference Wednesday, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said that city is also seeing the same trend.
Elicker said on Wednesday that New Haven had eight or nine testing sites, including pop-up sites, and the city announced later in the day plans for yet another testing site. But merely opening a new site doesn’t guarantee that more tests will actually be administered.
Elicker said pop-up testing sites in New Haven, which can handle about 100 patients per day, often only see 30 to 40 patients in a day.
“That’s, in my opinion, because we need to do a lot more work messaging to people,” Elicker said.
For most of the pandemic, with capacity limited, the state focused testing on people who have COVID-19 symptoms. But as the state expands capacity and tries to get a better handle on how the virus might be spreading, slots are opening up for people to be tested even if they don’t have symptoms or if they’ve tested negative in the past.
That change requires a messaging shift, Elicker said.
“We need to teach everyone that they need to be tested regularly,” he said.
In the past week, the state’s testing numbers have fallen instead of grown.
From May 10 to 17, the state administered more than 45,000 tests, significantly more than its goal of 42,000 tests per week before the first phase of reopening. But in the week since then, that number dropped to less than 40,000 tests, even as the state continued to push for more and more testing. That week included Memorial Day weekend, which Lamont said may have been a factor.
Despite the recent testing numbers, Lamont said at Wednesday’s press conference that the state is still on track to ramp up to 100,000 tests per week by June 20.
“We’re going to hit that goal,” he said.
Under Lamont’s plan, testing should double again after June 20, to more than 200,000 by the beginning of September. But even as the capacity for testing increases, the state faces a roadblock in the number of people willing to get tested.
“Right now we have all the capacity we need,” Lamont said Wednesday. “We have to do everything we can to encourage these people to come.”
To this end, Lamont said the state is partnering with organizations such as churches, nonprofits and community groups in an attempt to increase testing participation and is increasing access by bringing testing sites into underserved communities. This has been the state’s tactic since before the most recent dip in testing, and Lamont said he plans to continue down the same track in an effort to meet the ever-increasing testing goals.
The state is also working to provide temporary housing, food and “compensation” to people who need help self-isolating, Lamont said.
“All the reasons people hesitate about getting tested, we’re trying to take away those objections one by one,” he said.
After sitting through the nasal swab test himself, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal tried to take down one additional barrier: fear.
The nasal swab “is a pretty strange and awkward feeling. But it doesn’t hurt and I didn’t cry,” Blumenthal said. “It will help reduce a lot of pain and real grief for other people if everyone does it.”
Testing sites in New Haven and in Hartford are listed on each city’s website. Additional testing sites across the state can be found on the United Way 211 website and on the CVS Pharmacy website.
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.
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