Gradual ease of restrictions designed to mitigate risk stores, hair and nail salons, outdoor areas at restaurants and outdoor museums and zoos. Employees who can work from home will still be encouraged to do so. Max Reiss, a spokesman for the governor, s

Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday unveiled a four-stage strategy to reopen Connecticut businesses beginning May 20 — as long as coronavirus hospitalizations decline, more testing becomes available and a contact tracing program gets underway.

The plan, developed by Lamont’s advisory group, will start with the opening of offices, retail

tional decisions on schools and social gatherings will come next week, Lamont said.

Under the plan’s first stage, masks would be required in public and there would be strict rules on the number of people allowed in stores and for disinfection and cleaning. Other measures, such as the distance between dining tables, will also be mandated. No liquor will be allowed at outdoor restaurants.

Dr. Albert Ko, co-chair of the advisory group and an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, said the state will continue to recommend that older residents stay home as much as they can.

“The bottom line is we want to protect the elderly, given their risk,” Ko said. “That is going to be an important way we’re going to mitigate … the overall harm to the population.”

The four levels outlined in Lamont’s plan — red, orange, yellow and green — provide for a gradual easing of restrictions to enable the economy to return to normal. The final level, green, may not be achieved until 10 months from now.

“We’re going to have to continue strong social distancing based on principles of maintaining physical distance, also decreasing the duration people are in contact with each other and the number of contacts people have,” Ko said. “This is going to continue through the summer, and it’s going to continue until we have better mechanisms or interventions to stop this virus.”

Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo CEO and the other advisory board co-chair, said there would be at least four weeks and likely more between each stage of the reopening plan.

Lamont on Thursday revealed seven criteria for reopening businesses: a two-week decline in hospitalizations, substantially increased testing, sufficient contact tracing, adequate health care capacity, adequate supply of personal protective equipment, the ability to protect high-risk populations and the implementation of physical distancing rules in public places.

The governor emphasized that the May 20 date to begin the reopening was not a sure thing and could be pushed back if the state experienced another COVID-19 surge. He said it was unlikely that large gatherings, such as fans at a Hartford Yard Goats baseball game, would be allowed this year.

Hospitalizations continue to decline

Lamont announced Thursday that the state has seen 2,257 coronavirus-linked deaths, including an additional 89 since Wednesday. The state has 1,650 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 (down Thursday for the eighth straight day) with 27,700 total confirmed cases.

Hospitalizations in Connecticut have dropped 16% over the past eight days, while confirmed cases have risen more slowly of late than they did early in the outbreak. Deaths, which Lamont often describes as a “lagging indicator,” remain high, though the last few days have seen slightly lower death tolls (with about 80 fatalities a day) than last week (when the state averaged more than 100 a day).

Despite positive indicators, public health experts warn that Connecticut will continue to see illness and death over the coming weeks, as statistical models project at least 1,000 more fatalities due to COVID-19.

Rep. Hayes home after husband tests positive

Rep. Jahana Hayes will quarantine at home for 14 days after her husband Milford, a police detective in Waterbury, tested positive for COVID-19, she announced Thursday.

Hayes said in a statement that her husband “seems to be healthy and asymptomatic.”

Congress is currently on recess until May 4, despite calls for further relief legislation during the coronavirus pandemic.

“While some are clamoring to return to Washington to conduct in-person business, this test result in my own family has reinforced that we still have a ways to go,” Hayes said in a statement. “There is still real danger in a premature return to regular order for Congress and the country, without appropriate precautions.”

More worker voices on reopen committee?

Local labor leaders said Thursday they want more worker representation in the decision of when to reopen Connecticut schools and businesses, including on Lamont’s official advisory group.

“I was a little bit dismayed that it seems like the business leaders picked the labor representatives,” Connecticut AFL-CIO president Sal Luciano said on a conference call. “That’s always a problem. I think the labor representatives needed to pick the labor representatives. It’s a missed opportunity to hear from people on the front lines.”

Though the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group includes several labor leaders, Luciano noted it does not include nurses, nursing home workers, grocery store workers, correctional officers or bus drivers.

National AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, also on Thursday’s call, outlined the federation’s guidelines for reopening, including a voice for workers in decision-making, a prioritization of worker safety, an increase in personal protective equipment for front-line employees and assurances that workers won’t face retaliation if they miss work due to illness.

Trumka said states like Connecticut should be cautious in restarting their economies.

“I would rather be one week late than one week early,” he said. “Because if we try to reopen too fast, more people will get sick, more lives will be lost, more workers will lose jobs, and we’ll likely have another shutdown that plunges our economy into a depression.”

In other news: t The first person in the care of the Department of Mental Health Addiction Services has died from “complications related to the coronavirus,” the department reported Thursday. The person was a psychiatric patient at Connecticut Valley Hospital before they were transferred to a hospital and succumbed to the virus Wednesday. Connecticut Valley Hospital is the hardest-hit state psychiatric facility with 41 patients and 26 staff who have tested positive for the virus, comprising the majority of the 51 patients and 57 staff who have tested positive across all eight DMHAS facilities. t Revenue projections released Thursday show a deficit of $1 billion in the current fiscal year and $1.89 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1 as COVID-19 shutdowns decimate the state’s economy and lead to declines in income and sales tax revenue. t The towns of Fairfield and Guilford each announced they will reopen certain recreational facilities, including beaches and marinas in Fairfield and tennis courts and playing fields in Guilford. t Connecticut’s labor department has processed more than 381,000 unemployment claims since March 13, commissioner Kurt Westby said. This week alone, the department has paid out $370 million, including $83 million in weekly $600 benefits as part of the federal CARES Act. t Sen. Richard Blumenthal is pushing a policy that would require face masks for all airplane passengers during the coronavirus pandemic. Blumenthal, along with Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advocating for the rule. t Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, has asked Lamont to direct CARES Act funds to financial aid for those affected by COVID-19. He also requested funding for the free community college program included in the state budget. t Cases in family court where the parties have reached an agreement can now be resolved without having to come to a courthouse, the state Judicial Branch announced Thursday. That includes custody and divorce cases. “This is a significant development considering that about 90 percent of our cases are resolved by agreement,” Judge Michael A. Albis, chief administrative judge of family matters, said. t Macy’s plans to reopen 68 stores on May 4 in states that have reduced coronavirus restrictions, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. CEO Jeff Gennette told the Journal that there are plans to open all stores over the next six weeks. Macy’s has stores at Westfarms and Buckland Hills malls, but these are not on the early reopening list.

Courant staff writers Daniela Altimari, Russell Blair, Shawn McFarland and Zach Murdock contributed to this report.