The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Masks stay on indoors
Lamont suggests he’ll listen to business input on mandate
Gov. Ned Lamont won’t explicitly say whether he will keep the state’s indoor mask mandate in place beyond the end of this month.
But he hinted Thursday that he would listen to the state’s business owners, who’ve told him, “Governor, will you take the heat and make it a requirement a little while longer?”
“My instinct is the indoor mask mandate will keep going a little longer,” Lamont said during his coronavirus briefing.
The indoor mask mandate is expected to soon be the remaining COVID-19 restriction from a global health pandemic that led to widespread shutdowns of businesses and limits on day-to-day activity.
Lamont announced several weeks ago that he is getting rid of all businessrelated restrictions May 19, the day before his emergency powers, which have allowed him to control the day-to-day decision-making during the pandemic, are set to expire.
The General Assembly,
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that it’s now safe for fully vaccinated people to go without a face covering for certain outdoor activities and gatherings. Connecticut’s plan is more relaxed than the CDC guidance with the state making no distinction between whether someone is fully vaccinated or not.
namely majority Democrats, is planning to extend the governor’s powers, as lawmakers are still determining which of his remaining executive orders should become permanent and which should go away.
This weekend starts the state’s two-phase reopening which is coming 14 months into the pandemic, which killed 8,084 residents and sickened many more, at a time when supply of COVID-19 vaccines outweighs demand.
From Saturday on, businesses can stay open until midnight as opposed to 11 p.m., and all outdoor restrictions are lifted which means, for example, there’s no limit to how many people can sit at a table and you won’t be required to order food when purchasing alcohol at restaurants. You also won’t be required to wear a mask when outdoors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that it’s now safe for fully vaccinated people to go without a face covering for certain outdoor activities and gatherings. Connecticut’s plan is more relaxed than the CDC guidance with the state making no distinction between whether someone is fully vaccinated or not.
On May 19, all remaining business restrictions, except for the indoor mask mandate, will go away so there will be no limit on how close you can sit indoors or how many people can be in a bar or restaurant.
Wearing a mask when in public and indoors will still be required — soon to be the remaining restriction from a global health pandemic that led to widespread shutdown of businesses and limits on day-to-day activity.
Nora Dannehy, Lamont’s general counsel, has provided legislative leaders with a whittled down list of the remaining executive orders that the governor’s office think should continue or be made permanent, such as those that pertain to the state’s large-scale testing and vaccination systems.
“At end of day, there’s three things (the governor) really needs,” House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said Wednesday. “He needs the indoor mask mandate for at least a little bit more time. He needs the existing ability to make sure we’re quickly vaccinating and testing people, which will be critically important for the next couple of months, and he needs the emergency power to get federal dollars.”
Some of the federal relief the state has received, such as money from Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay the National Guard to help out, is tied to Connecticut being in a declared state of emergency. Looney make sure, if no longer have emergency declation in place could be damaging as far as flow of federal dollars
Both Looney and Ritter said they expect Lamont’s powers to be extended, though no final decision has been made. They said they are seeking to act on a recommendation in the state Supreme Court decision validating the constitutionality of Lamont’s powers, which is to give the full legislature, not a separate committee, the power to approve a governor’s declaration of civil preparedness and public health emergencies.
Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, said there’s been “little to no conversations” between the two parties since the full legislature voted at the end of March to extend Lamont’s powers to discuss how the state should handle the pandemic after May 20.
Kelly said Democrats assume that because Republicans want a say in the decision making that they will be critical of the governor and his administration’s handling of the pandemic. In reality, he said, there are areas of agreement between Republicans and Lamont, such as making telehealth benefits permanent.
“But we need to have the conversation,” Kelly said. “I don’t believe a patchwork quilt of month to month executive sessions is the way to run a government.”
Kelly, said he’s not against keeping the indoor mask mandate. “I think it’s a small gesture one can make to think beyond themselves to make sure not only myself, but others remain safe.”
At the same time, he said, “I’m not sure what it’s going to look like past May 20.”
“From last March to today, we’ve been guided by metrics, science and safety and I think that needs to continue,” he said.
Kelly said one possibility would be to leave it up to the state’s public health commissioner to make the determination going forward on when and where masks would continue to be needed.
But that, among other pandemic-related decisions, should be debated by the full legislature, he said.
“The legislature is a separate but equal branch of government. We are the people’s house. We represent the voice of the people,” Kelly said. “The people’s voice needs to be at the table.”