Executive order gives pandemic power to local officials
including Norwich and New London. Connecticut is transiWith a new executive tioning to a new strategy order going into effect on in response to the coronaThursday morning, mayvirus pandemic, focusing ors and first selectmen, in on upticks that are occurassociation with their local ring in more-isolated areas public health officials will while giving local officials be able to reduce restauthe power to retreat from rant, barber and hair salon Phase 3 reopenings. capacity, and cut back on
It marks a sharp change the maximum allowed for from the one-size-fits- all indoor and outdoor gathapproach that Gov. Ned erings to Phase 2 levels, Lamont and the state Deincluding 50-percent seatpartment of Public Health ing limits for indoor dinstarteding.inMarch,whenthe pandemic started in southPhase 3 began on Oct. 8, western Connecticut, allowing businesses to go moved up the Interstate-95 to 75-percent capacity. corridor to New Haven, “This represents the north to Hartford and latest evolution of our finally east to locations response,” said Max Reiss, that are now experiencing communications director the biggest resurgences, for Lamont. “This is a different kind of response, with clear monitoring, what the growth of the infection levels are, and the spread.”
The order is specifically aimed at towns and cities where two-week infections have averaged 15 new daily cases per 100,000 people. The state is expected to have an updated list Thursday of the two-week daily infection rates for the 169 towns and cities.
Likely to remain at the top of the infection rate is Norwich, which had a daily rate of 46.9 per 100,000 in the two-week period that ended October 3. New London came in at 30.5 per 100,000; Windham at 24 per 100,000; and Preston at 23.1. The highest rates in the western half of the state included Danbury at 14.2; New Britain at 14.3 and Fairfield at 11.1, mostly because of hot spots at the two universities there.
The state Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 164 new COVID-19 cases out of 8,359 tests, for a rate of 1.96 percent, down from Tuesday’s 2.4 percent. The agency reported four new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 4,537. A net increase of 16 patients brought the statewide hospitalization total to 188.
While Lamont had generally aligned his pandemic response with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Lamont is in a much-smaller state, while Cuomo has declared several “red zone” shutdowns in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Lamont’s tactics with higher rates has been to order massive increases in testing through the DPH rapid response personnel. Last week he announced the plan to eventually allow local leaders to decide on whether to reduce capacity back to Phase 2 levels.
“Back in March and April, we did not talk about a regionalized basis,” Reiss said. “But now it is a more-isolated version of the spread, compared to months ago.” The state’s first fatality occurred on March 17. “In March and April, people were scared. People are just not as scared anymore. So here we are now with a more local-discretion piece, to send a clear message to communities.”
The DPH’s municipal case average does not include long-term care facilities and correctional institutions. Under the executive order chief elected officials in cities or towns with rates of 15 or more per day, have four days to give written notice to David Lehman, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, to either maintain the Phase 3 limitations, or scale back to Phase 2.