New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘Just remain vigilant’
State preps for New Year’s Eve — with inspections, not party planning
The holiday that usually brings excitement during large celebrations is this year yielding warnings against them and, in some Connecticut cities, plans for New Year’s Eve inspections.
While many of the usual events have been canceled, some businesses are planning safer alternatives – online, outdoors or otherwise within COVID-19 guidelines. Meanwhile, municipalities are using various tactics to deter large gatherings, including outreach conducted in advance of the holiday and enforcement strategies that could mean fines for those who aren’t compliant.
‘Carry out that love’
While leaders acknowledged the difficulty of not seeing loved ones over the holidays, they urged residents consider the long-term impact.
“As much as we want to have that human contact, this year, let’s keep the contact through the telephone calls and the Zoom meetings,” Stamford Mayor David Martin said. “And next year we’ll come together again ... and we will have a party like it’s 2021.”
He implored people to do
everything they could to protect loved ones.
“If you love someone, don’t expose them to coronavirus,” he said. “If you love someone, respect them and carry out that love by protecting them this holiday season.”
Maritza Bond, New Haven’s director of health, also urged residents to take precautions to ensure family members could be around to celebrate many more holidays.
“We ask people to just remain vigilant and to know that there’s gonna be vaccine available in the very near future,” said Bond. “Hold tight. We don’t (want to) lose a loved one over gathering for one holiday.”
Asked for comment about state guidance for the holiday, Max Reiss, spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont, issued a statement saying it would be similar to messaging around Thanksgiving and Christmas, with officials urging residents “to avoid family gatherings.”
“We have seen a stabilization of our overall test positivity and hospitalizations in recent weeks as a result of our residents taking the rules seriously,” Reiss said.
“Our public health experts remain concerned about a potential uptick in cases following Christmas and the amount of travel that was reported throughout the region,” Reiss said. “Further gatherings to ring in the new year would make our mitigation efforts even more difficult.”
Enforcement strategies
While they hope residents would follow COVID-19 regulations this New Year’s, some officials, including Bond, signaled a willingness to issue fines if necessary.
But the health director was optimistic about compliance and said her agency has seen a decrease in complaints coming in..
Because cases have been so severe, Bond said, “I just think people are just being more cautious.”
Still, the city’s COVID-19 task force, which includes building and health department employees, “will be out conducting unannounced inspections” at restaurants and banquet halls Thursday night, according to Bond.
Officials in Danbury and Hamden said they would take a similar approach.
“The City of Danbury is equipped with health inspectors and a Covid-19 Compliance Officer. We also have a Covid-19 Health Enforcement Team that may be called depending on the nature of the violation,” city spokeswoman Taylor O’Brien wrote in response to an inquiry about New Year’s protocols.
“We are prepared for NYE and will conduct inspections throughout the night,” O’Brien said.
In general, Danbury does not seek to fine businesses, O’Brien said.
“We have not had to issue fines and we don’t wish to,” O’Brien said. “Our process is inspection, issue correction, surprise followup inspection, and if necessary we will then hold an educational training for the owner and manager. If another violation occurs after that, then we would issue fines or closure notices.”
Further, Danbury’s establishments know the rules, O’Brien said. If one were to hold a New Year’s party, she said, the city would shut it down and issue a fine.
Hamden officials also will be visiting establishments throughout the night, according to Mayor Curt Leng.
“It is not our preference to penalize, we want to encourage compliance to protect all. However, those who choose not to will face penalty,” he said. “This is not optional, it’s a public health emergency.”
The team conducting the visits mostly consists of police officers in the neighborhood initiative division, according to Leng.
Elsewhere, police officers whose primary concern on a normal year is patrolling the streets for drunken drivers will be prepared to respond to reports of large gatherings.
“The last thing I want to do is fine people who are already challenged by coronavirus,” Martin, Stamford’s mayor, said, but if they are putting others at risk, “that’s just not right.”
While Guilford officials will not be out making rounds, it is “prepared to enforce crowd sized gatherings and restaurant capacities” if complaints come in, according to First Selectman Matthew Hoey, who said Chief of Police Warren “Butch” Hyatt has been designated as the town’s COVID enforcement officer.
“He can designate any police officer to investigate and/or enforce” complaints, Hoey said.
So far, the town has not issued any fines, according to Hoey, who said practice has been to first warn establishments that violate COVID rules.
If a business were to break the rules a second time, it would be fined, Hoey said.
In Bridgeport, officials also said they would comply with the directives as issued “by the state to fine businesses, patrons, or individuals that are found to be putting the public in danger by abandoning protocols and orders set forth” by the state. The Bridgeport police and health department “will enforce the orders and respond to calls reported to the city hotline, as well as doing ‘spot checks’ at local establishments throughout the city, according to a emailed statement.
“We are encouraged that the vast majority of businesses and our residents have been complying with the executive orders and public health guidelines.
However, there are a few bad actors that try to evade compliance,” Health Director Lisa Morrissey said in the statement. “These enforcement efforts are aimed at the few that refuse to comply and place our community at increased risk for uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.”
To report a business in Bridgeport that is not following COVID-19 guidelines, residents can call 203-576-7671, according to the city.
Outreach
In addition to preparing to enforce the rules, some communities, such as Hamden and New Haven, have teams visiting or reaching out to establishments ahead of the holiday to make sure they’re aware.
“We’ve been making phone calls proactively reminding business owners to stay within the sector rules,” said Bond. “There’s a lot of advertisement [about New Year’s events] that’s going on, on social media.”
Some leaders have stressed the importance of education and expressed optimism that continued messaging about COVID precautions will prevent risky events.
Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim said city officials, including staff at the health and economic development offices, have been conducting outreach among local businesses owners, venues and other entities to reinforce policies during the pandemic.
Just like evolving rules coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “not everybody can stay up-to-date on every single thing,” the mayor said. “We try to start with education. We’re not going to be showing up on Day 1 to close somebody down.”
There have been very few issues that prompted municipal action. One notable incident involved a business that had customers in excess of limits two nights in a row, a video of which was shared on social media, Florsheim said.
“It was way too many people in way too small of a space for a party-type event,” he said. Local health officials got involved and made sure the owner knew the state’s latest rules on capacity limits. No punitive action was taken.
“We told them it was going to be enforced if it happened again,” Florsheim said. “That was the end of it. Fortunately, it was all’s well that ends well, and no major public impact came of it.”
As far as something similar happening elsewhere in the city around New Year’s, “we have business owners, restaurateurs who really know better than that at this point. We’re well-equipped to handle it if it does come up,” Florsheim said.
In Torrington, because the city “has not sanctioned any New Year’s Eve celebrations,” said Chief of Police William Baldwin, “we do not anticipate any large gatherings or crowds.”
When asked about enforcement strategies around COVID regulations, Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake said the Police Department handles enforcement in retail establishments, while the Health Department handles restaurants, salons and grocery stores.
“Our police (department) is pretty sensible,” he said. “They first look to educate, but there are violations that have been handed out, for, you know, not wearing a mask in particular establishments.”
When asked about plans specific to New Year’s, he said since the overall message has been to avoid gatherings, he believes “there’s gonna be less traveling and less parties this year.”
Celebrating safely
Not all events are canceled this year.
Many restaurants will continue to offer New Year’s Eve dinner and New Year’s Day brunch specials, both to-go and in-person. Camacho Garage in New Haven, for example, which opened in 2020, offered in-person service both New Year’s Eve and day but has special takeout packages for groups of four, according to the eatery.
Restaurants will be required to close their doors by 9:30 p.m., per state regulations.
Other celebrations are going virtual.
First Night Hartford won’t offer its usual fireworks display, but it will be broadcasting musical performances and offering hours of Zoom workshops to families, all free of charge, according to https://firstnighthartford.org.
In Middletown, the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center celebrates the end of the old year and the start of the new with its annual “Fire of Hope” celebration at 1 p.m. Dec. 31. This year’s event will be held online at buttonwood.org, with a limited number of in-person seats at the Buttonwood at 605 Main St.
Those who wish to attend inperson should register in advance. More information is available The Buttonwood Tree’s Faebook page.
New Haven’s Shubert Theatre will hold its First Night of Funny, a show featuring four comedians, just like it did last year – except this time, it will be online.
It’s an event that Hoey, Guilford’s first selectman, said he might attend.
Mayor Martin of Stamford also planned a night in. His girlfriend was the only person he planned to see in-person throughout the entire holiday season, he said.
“I might get some … eggnog and put on some golden rock oldies and dance the night away, but it will just be my girlfriend and me,” he said.