HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Soldiers with the Connecticut National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve have begun caring for COVID-19 patients at Stamford Hospital as part of a military effort to support medical staff across the country during the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Thursday.
The soldiers are working in a recently reopened building, which had been slated for demolition, on the campus of the 305-bed hospital, said Capt. David Pytlik, a spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard. The medical crews include 85 Army reservists and nine state guardsmen, he said.
The Army has deployed about 15 medical units to help with patient care nationwide, including in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
Last week, Connecticut National Guard soldiers and airmen set up 200 beds at Stamford Hospital and tents outside for a triage area.
Stamford has been the hardest-hit municipality in Connecticut, with nearly 1,600 of the state’s 14,755 confirmed coronavirus cases. Nearly 870 state residents have died, including 365 in Fairfield County, where Stamford is located.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
In other developments around Connecticut:
TESTS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
The city of Stamford plans to begin testing all police officers and firefighters for the coronavirus on Thursday, Mayor David Martin said.
Plans call for the city’s nearly 600 first responders to be tested, he said.
Martin said the nation’s shortage of testing equipment has hindered testing plans in Stamford, but testing capacity has recently increased. The mayor also wants to test all workers at nursing homes and senior centers in the city when more tests are available.
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FIELD HOSPITAL OPENS
Bridgeport Hospital has begun moving COVID-19 patients into a 32-bed mobile field hospital and it is nearing capacity, a hospital spokesman said Thursday.
The tent is being used to treat patients with less acute cases, but it is equipped with ventilators if needed, spokesman John Cappiello said.
The hospital had more than 190 coronavirus-positive patients as of Tuesday, with 57 of them in intensive care and 41 on ventilators, Hearst Connecticut Media reported. It has been averaging about 200 COVID-19 patients a day recently and the hospital is approaching capacity amid peak volumes, Cappiello said.
