Lamont drops CT coronavirus compliance grade from A- to B+

Connecticut residents, who in recent weeks have enjoyed some of the lowest infection rates in the country, might be getting complacent in the campaign against the coronavirus, Gov. Ned Lamont warned on Thursday.

Lamont, during his daily virtual news briefing, said he was slightly downgrading the state’s response to the need for social distancing and mask wearing.

Lamont said that the pause he recently ordered heading into phase 3 reopenings for bars, expanded indoor dining and the outright cancellation of all sleep-away summer camps, is out of extreme caution as COVID cases surge throughout most of the nation.

“It reminds you of what a thin margin of error we do have,” Lamont said, warning that the warm weather can lull residents into noncompliance. “I’m a relatively tough grader. I think a month ago I gave us more of a A-minus. Today I think it’s more like a B-plus.”

Lamont said that during a recent call with local elected officials from throughout the state they told him about a number of large events.

“It’s not Lake of the Ozarks-type parties, but they were parties where you could potentially have some real risks there. So we’re watching that carefully and reminding everybody to wear the mask,” he said.

Lamont said that hospital admissions seem to be staying steady at about 20 patients per day, statewide. He reported that there were five new fatalities to report, bringing the total since March 17 to 4,348.

“It’s a sad, lingering number,” Lamont said. There was also a net increase of two patients in hospitals, which now hold 90. On April 22, there were 1,972 people hospitalized. He noted that in the

Florida outbreak of the virus, 48 hospitals have reached their capacity with COVID-19 patients.

“We have erred on the side of caution since the very beginning,” Lamont said from the State Capitol.

Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer, said that state health officials are “constantly” concerned about and monitoring the public’s response to the health crisis.

“When we’re all out and about, you know I think we see varying levels of compliance with the governor’s executive order on wearing face coverings,” he said. “We’re really continuing to work hard to get the message out about the importance.”

He said that in the Southern states that have become the epicenter’s of the new nationwide flareups, people there usually do not adhere to the practice of using face coverings.

“I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that really makes a huge difference,” Geballe said, stressing the need to target younger people, who in states where the virus is spreading seem to not adhere to the public-health procedure.

Acting Public Health Commissioner Deidre Gifford said that outdoors, more people seem to not be keeping the recommended six feet of distance from others, and not wearing masks.

“Wearing a face covering is something we do for one another,” Gifford said. “It provides use some personal protection from a droplet or an aerosolized virus, but mostly it prevents us who may be spreading the virus from spreading it to someone else. Wearing a face covering whenever you’re in a group is probably one of the most important things we can do to respect one another, to care for one another and to make sure that Connecticut avoids a second wave.”