Official: Lamont holiday party guests test positive

A “small number” of people who attended a holiday party at Gov. Ned Lamont’s Greenwich home this month tested positive last week for COVID-19, the governor’s office confirmed Thursday night.

However, Ned and Annie Lamont have regularly tested negative for COVID since the Dec. 11 private party, according to Max Reiss, the governor’s director of communications.

Reiss said everyone who attended the event were required to provide proof of full vaccinations as well as a negative test result for the virus. “In the week that followed, the Lamonts were informed that a small number of attendees had tested positive for COVID-19,” Reiss said.

Reiss pointed out the governor’s schedule often includes two or three public events every day, including indoor gatherings like the Connecticut Restaurant Assooccurred ciation gala the night of Dec. 6 at Foxwoods Resort & Casino, and the annual fundraising breakfast of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 14 attended by about 300 people in Rocky Hill.

Reiss did not say whether the Lamonts and others wore masks during the party at their home or how many people attended.

“The governor and first lady test regularly and have tested negative in each instance since the event,” Reiss said. “The positive tests long after their party.”

Unlike last year during the holidays, Lamont has not set limits on the number of people who can gather indoors to help prevent the spread of COVID. Amid the state’s worst wave of the virus in a year, Lamont has resisted reinstating broad mandates and has instead encouraged municipal leaders to enact their own local rules like indoor mask requirements while encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and receive booster shots.