Lamont: Employee at Danbury Hospital, Norwalk Hospital tests positive for coronavirus

Gov. Ned Lamont says an employee of Danbury Hospital and Norwalk Hospital has tested positive for coronavirus.

The employee is a resident of Westchester County in New York and is self-quarantined at home there, according to Lamont. He added that the person worked in an "isolated geographic part" of the hospital.

"This individual was exposed to the virus while in their home community of Westchester County by another individual who has tested positive, and then the individual worked shifts at both hospitals," Lamont said in a statement. "The hospital employee is currently at their home, where they are in isolation and recovering."

The governor says both Norwalk Hospital and Danbury Hospital are under “strict surveillance.”

“We have been expecting exposure of this virus in Connecticut for several weeks, so its presence should not surprise anybody," Lamont's statement continued. "This is no cause for panic or anxiety as our public health officials and medical experts have been making every effort to put every precaution possible in place."

State Department of Health Commissioner Renee D. Coleman-Mitchell said that 42 specimens had been tested at the state lab as of Friday. Another 12 more are awaiting testing.

"We've got this," said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. "It’s going to be unnerving, it's disruptive, it's scary ... but at the end of the day, we’re going to be OK if we work together, we follow the protocols that are put in place and we make sure that we communicate across all lines, including state borders."

The news comes as federal, state and local officials continue to ramp up efforts to prepare for coronavirus. State lawmakers met in Hartford today to draw up an action plan for Connecticut schools, hospitals and businesses. Their top priority is asking the CDC for more testing kits. The state's hospitals are also preparing to conduct their own tests without having to wait on the state lab in Rocky Hill.

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