A panel discussion co-hosted on the We-Ha.com Facebook page and the Neighbors & Friends in West Hartford Facebook page will be held Thursday, March 12, from 5:30-6:30 p.m., and will provide up-to-date information about COVID-19 and allow the public to have their questions answered by a panel that includes an infectious disease doctor and representatives from the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District and West Hartford’s Office of Emergency Management.

Panelists will include:

• Dr. Nicholas Bennett, a pediatric infectious disease specialist who lives in Simsbury. He received his medical training at Cambridge in the United Kingdom and has his Ph.D. in virology also from Cambridge. His pediatric residency and infectious disease fellowship were at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, NY. He has lived in Connecticut  for the last eight years and was the division head of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center until last summer, when he took a break from clinical practice. He’s currently engaged in consulting and speaking work.
• Registered Nurse Carol Steinke will represent the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District. She has been a public health nurse for West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District for the past year, and prior to that was public health nursing supervisor for the City of Hartford for 13 years, serving as program manager of the Disease Prevention Health Promotion Division.
• Representing the Town of West Hartford will be Bob McCue, who retired as assistant chief last summer after 39 years with the West Hartford Police Department. McCue currently serves with the town’s Office of Emergency Management.

The program will address the disease itself, the pathology behind it, how it is spread, and other pertinent information, including myths that have been proliferating.

There will be a discussion of West Hartford’s preparedness and plans to mitigate the spread of coronavirus in the  community. Mayor Shari Cantor will be issuing an announcement through the Everbridge platform on Wednesday and the text of that announcement will also be addressed.

The discussion will cover preventative measures and what you can do to keep you and your family safe and healthy.

The forum will be held as a Facebook Live event, and is intended to be interactive with the viewing public, who will be able to submit their questions as comments. Think about what you would like to ask the panelists in advance and the attempt will be made to address those questions. Questions can be posted in advance in the comment section below.

Patti Albee, founder and administrator of the Neighbors & Friends in West Hartford Facebook will be curating the questions for the panelists. Albee is a lifelong West Hartford resident, who attended schools here in town as did her four kids. She has a unique perspective and understands the pulse of West Hartford.

The forum will be moderated by John Lyons along with Ronni Newton, managing editor of We-Ha.com and editor of West Hartford LIFE. Newton will share the latest headlines pertinent to the West Hartford community.

The intent of the forum is to inform the community, not scare people.

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