Connecticut Faces Covid-19 Test Shortage on Year’s Largest Holiday Week.

For thousands of Connecticut residents, all many wanted for Christmas was to get a confirmed negative COVID-19 test result before they headed off to their family gatherings. However, there were very few to be found. The shortage struck statewide and those who chose to brave the cold either waited in their idling vehicles or even stood in the cold for hours hoping they would have a chance to get a confirmed negative test. People are tired and frustrated and the tension is coming to a head at the state’s overwhelmed testing sites.

Now, days late and federal aid dollars short, the Lamont Administration has created a Black Friday “get ‘em while they last” style rush for residents to hopefully get a hold of the menial numbers of test kits being given to each town. There are 169 different strategies to distribute these kits and, especially for those not connected to the internet, it will be impossible to know where to go and how to get there in time to actually be able to obtain a kit.

But wait, there’s more. Hours after giving municipal governments hours to create and roll out a plan to distribute the woefully inadequate numbers of kits, the Lamont Administration turned around to notify the officials that they would have to wait another few days for the supplies to arrive in Connecticut, adding to the stress and confusion. And BONUS, while his state clamors for information and materials, King Ned himself is vacationing in Florida.

How did Lamont and his administration not anticipate this explosive demand for testing? States like Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey managed to procure enough at-home test kits to cover every single resident ahead of the final week of December while Connecticut created a bum-rush for every municipal CEO to manage. (Could it be that our Governor was too focused on the political fallout - i.e. reelection ramifications - of losing the state’s largest testing contractor which happened to be founded by his wife?)

Connecticut’s current testing crisis is a clear indicator that our representative government needs to be reinstated to be able to weigh in, look ahead and create policies in the best interest of public health. Republican members of the legislature have been calling for an immediate fix to this shortage. It’s time to return the voice to the communities, those in more rural areas, the underserved and those who have been left behind by Governor Lamont and Connecticut Democrats. 

Our state is facing a stalemate in the desperate plea for a return to normalcy.

Testing is a critical component to ensuring the health and safety of you and your loved ones. Connecticut clearly understands that being vaccinated does not ensure you are not still carrying the virus. Each day this pandemic is looking more and more like the endemic flu or cold that we have been living with for generations. It is the hope of Connecticut Republicans that the news on innovative therapeutics (which originated from CT’s Pfizer) will be a major breakthrough in developing a multi pronged approach to managing Covid-19. 

Ben Proto

Connecticut Republican Chairman

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ct+testing+sites+closed&client=firefox-b-1-m&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5k5zxt4z1AhVlS98KHagJD2QQ_AUIBigB