Yale epidemiologist Dr. Albert Ko, a top pandemic advisor to Gov. Ned Lamont, said Thursday he’s concerned about the different variants that have been detected in Connecticut, but he’s not opposing the state’s plans to eliminate capacity limits.
Beginning Friday, limits will be lifted at restaurants, non-theater indoor recreation centers, libraries, museums, aquariums, gyms and fitness centers, retail shops, offices, personal services establishments and houses of worship. Mask-wearing, distancing and cleaning protocols will still be required.
Also, movie theaters and performing arts venues will only be allowed to open at 50% capacity. Restaurant seating will be limited to eight people per table and hours of operation capped at 11 p.m. Bars, meanwhile, will remain shuttered.
“I think the worst case scenario we can do, going forth, is what’s happening in many other states in the US where they’re letting it fly or hang out and lifting facemask restrictions, lifting all social gatherings, keeping bars open,” Ko said. “We know those have been really kind of the pressure point, the touch points of transmission in the past.”
Ko credited Connecticut with being “very evidence based” and keeping a close eye on hospitalizations, deaths, and testing, noting how wastewater in parts of Connecticut has been under surveillance to detect any possible surge of infections.
“That’s not to say that I’m not concerned about these variants,” said Ko, who is currently working with a team in Brazil where a variant has created a “humanitarian crisis” with intensive care units overflowing with patients.
As of Thursday, five variants have been detected in Connecticut. The variant that originated in the United Kingdom has been most prevalent, with 283 out of the total 295 variant cases.
Lamont defended his decision to ease capacity limitations, noting the state’s COVID-19 infection rate has declined and capacity in hospital increased since the state began reopening things in May. He said if the situation changes dramatically, Connecticut has the ability to change course.
“But right now, I think given the vaccinations, where we are in powering through, I think this is the right decision at the right time,” he said. “Now wear the mask.”
Also on Friday, the next phase of vaccine eligibility begins. People 45 years and older will be able to sign up appointments.
In other coronavirus-related news:
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EMERGENCY POWERS
With his executive authority under the state’s public health emergency slated to end on April 20, Lamont wants the full General Assembly to vote on extending some of the orders he has signed during the pandemic. Currently, a Democratic-controlled group of 10 legislative leaders has had the ability to deny an extension of his powers.
Lamont said Nora Dannehy, the new legal counsel to the governor’s office, thought it would be better for the full legislature to “opine” on what to do next rather than the special committee of lawmakers. The proposed change comes more than a week after a Superior Court judge ruled in a case involving mask-wearing that executive orders the governor has issued during the pandemic require some legislative oversight.
Lamont met Thursday with Democratic legislative leaders about his soon-to-expire authority and pointed out a “variety of things in those emergency orders that are really important to continue.” He spoke of the need to maintain the emergency declaration in order to get 100% federal reimbursement for certain COVID-related expenses and suggested things could change with vaccinations.
“We’re not necessarily done with vaccinations on April 20th. There could be variants, there could be booster shots. We could have a vaccine available by later this summer for our kids under the age 16 and under. So we need to maintain some maneuverability there,” said Lamont, noting the extension won’t be open-ended.
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said there needs to be a “bridge” between how the state is operating today under Lamont’s executive authority and “until sometime in May, at least” when the powers could end. He said the lawmakers hope to get input from the governor’s office regarding which of the dozens of orders need to “live on” past mid-April or mid-May and which ones can be scrapped.
“I think at the end of the day, the executive orders should really be focused on public health, vaccines, COVID testing and things really related to that,” Ritter said. “That shrinks the vast majority of these.”
The two top Republican leaders said they’ve been trying for months to get the Democrats to wind down Lamont’s emergency authority, but to no avail.
“It wasn’t until a Superior Court judge basically agreed that the people do have a voice and that voice needs to be heard,” said Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, a Republican from Stratford.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, noted how this discussion is happening as the legislative session is beginning to heat up, with debates over big issues looming.
“There are so many bills that are on our agenda to be dealt with and I just think from day one there‘s been a lack of prioritization of governing and planning under a pandemic,” he said. “And I think continually to hand the car keys over to the governor and say, ’you deal with it,’ is not good.”
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