CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Governor Ned Lamont (D-CT) on Coronavirus Pandemic

Interview

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Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont making that very decision over the weekend to close all of the schools in his state.

Thank you for joining me, Governor. Let's begin with --

GOV. NED LAMONT (D), CONNECTICUT: Good morning, Poppy.

HARLOW: Let's begin with the decision you've made because I'd like you to listen to some others in other states and how long they think this could last. Take a listen.

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GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: The odds are that, you know, this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: My blunt fear is if the schools shut down, they will be done for the year, done for the school year, maybe even for the calendar year.

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HARLOW: That was, first, Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio and then New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. I was stunned hearing that, closed possibly for the calendar year, until January? Is the same possible in Connecticut?

LAMONT: Look, we'll see. This thing is changing so fast. We're racing to stay ahead of it. Look, about 90 percent plus of our schools have already closed down on a voluntary basis. There were just a few school systems we had to urge the superintendents to close. They'll be closed.

As you heard from one of your previous briefings, that means we have to do a lot of follow-up or doing tele-education.

HARLOW: Yes.

LAMONT: We're doing daycare. Other programs we need to make sure that our first responders can still get to work when their kids aren't at school.

HARLOW: You know, Governor, I spent -- a few years ago I spent about a month reporting in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It's part of your state that is the most in need. You have 40 percent of children that live in poverty there and rely on the school system for not just lunch, but breakfast, and during the summer to take home their meals as well. What are you doing for all those kids?

LAMONT: We've got a federal waiver. We're keeping the cafeterias open in most of these schools. They're making the breakfast, they're making the lunch for those kids who really depend upon it, and it's going to be drive-by so that we can hand you the lunch, hand you the breakfast, and your child will be fed.

HARLOW: What if the parents don't have transportation to get there?

LAMONT: We're thinking about delivery mechanisms as well for some of those parents.

[09:10:02]

There's also pick-up in the school. I'm not encouraging that. We don't need everybody going back into the school, that's what we're trying to avoid.

HARLOW: Yes.

LAMONT: But you're absolutely right, these are the type of issues the governors have to deal with every day. HARLOW: Yes, I was just thinking about the school buses, and that's

what got, you know, those kids to school to get fed, to have shelter for the majority of the day.

Let's talk about testing. I know that you are -- you said at least very soon Connecticut would be able to have more drive-through testing? Where does that stand and do you have enough tests this morning?

LAMONT: Look, I don't know where the federal government was. We should have been doing this, you know, eight weeks ago, so we could have isolated people earlier on, when we found out that they are carriers. But that said, I think the governors have stepped up. We've got our public laboratory, we have a number of private hospitals now that are beginning to do the drive-through testing. We have a number of outside labs.

Are we close to where we ought to be? No. But we're catching up.

HARLOW: Right. Do you have enough tests?

LAMONT: No.

HARLOW: What do you need --

LAMONT: But it's more than that, Poppy.

HARLOW: I know it is. I know it is at this point.

LAMONT: It's --

HARLOW: Yes. I was going to ask what you need most.

LAMONT: It's a question of people to administer the tests. We need people who are ready to administer those tests, making sure that we can get that information out to the labs. We turn that around, get the information to the local public health clinics so people know where people who are infected, where they are.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

Governor Ned Lamont, we wish you all the luck. I know you guys are up around the clock, working around the clock. Good luck.

LAMONT: Thanks for keeping people informed, Poppy.

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