State getting ready for Phase 3
Next up: Bars, some indoor and outdoor events, amusement parks
For places like bars and clubs to reopen when Connecticut reaches Phase 3 of its return to business in late July or August, residents will have to retain the good habits that most people are following when it comes to social distancing, mask wearing and hand-washing, according to the report released Tuesday by Gov. Ned Lamont and his Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group.
While exact protocols for Phase 3 are still being developed and are not part of the 43-page reported released Tuesday night, the reopenings are based on the same criteria as Phase 1 and 2, which depend heavily on health metrics, including testing and tracing contacts of COVID-19-positive patients to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
There are extensive requirements for colleges and universities to meet in order to accept residential students for the fall semester.
Bars, indoor event spaces and venues, indoor amusement parks and outdoor events of 100 or less are also included in Phase 3, which could occur as early as four weeks after the Phase 2 target date of June 20, which itself depends on health metrics and public cooperation over the next few weeks, the
final report of the advisory committee says.
The mid-summer Phase 3 reopening depends on risks that are being managed; that a second surge of the pandemic does not occur; the willingness of residents to submit to testing for COVID-19; their participation in contact tracing; the ability of the state to maintain a stockpile of personal protective equipment; the public’s support of local businesses and restaurants; and a lack of complications from neighboring states.
“The global COVID-19 pandemic is complex and rapidly evolving, and that is why I asked a group of people on the ground here in Connecticut – including public health experts, business owners and representatives, education officials, and others – to review how the virus is impacting Connecticut and provide me with recommendations for a safe and appropriate response,” Lamont said in an early evening statement.
“We learn new things about this virus every day, and as a result, the plans outlined in
this report are almost certain to change based on new facts, insights, and breakthroughs both here in our state and around the world, as well as in coordination with our regional partners,” the governor said. “But one thing is for sure – the strength, generosity, and resolve I see every day across our state will remain constant. By working together, we can continue to protect the health and safety of our family, friends, and neighbors as we reopen Connecticut.”
Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer and the commissioner of the state Department of Administrative Services, said during the governor’s daily news conference that so far, 600 health professionals, including employees from nine local health departments have been recruited to perform contact tracing: interviewing COVID-19 patients to track down people they might have spent enough time with to infect.
Contact tracing is a major key to the state’s continued reopening, the report says.
In recent weeks, Connecticut has joined in a seven-state regional effort to purchase equipment and choreograph the reopening process, although
each state has notable differences, such as Connecticut never closing its state parks while New York did. Rhode Island will allow 50 percent occupancy of indoor restaurants on June 1, while Lamont is holding firm on at least June
20 before some diners can move inside.
The state Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported that another 27 COVID-19 patients died since Monday, bringing the total fatalities in the pandemic to
3,769. In addition, there was a net reduction of 12 hospitalizations, for 694 patients statewide, equal to the total of about April 1. The state’s peak hospitalization was 1,972 on April 22.
During Lamont’s news conference from the State Capitol, West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor and Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo joined him remotely to describe their local efforts to help restaurants stay in business during the slow reopening.
Lamont said that the June 20 target date remains for partial indoor dining. “One reason for this is, it’s closed in Westchester County,” Lamont said. “It’s closed in The Bronx. It’s a half-an-hour drive, and there’s some thought that if we open
everything up indoors as well as outdoor, a lot of traffic can go back and forth.”
Cantor said reopening business owners were anxious to bring back customers, and while there were several complaints over non-compliance with social-distancing rules, they were scattered.
“For the most part people are very, very respectful and understanding of the situation that we need to be social distanced and wear face-cloth coverings,” Cantor said, stressing that restaurant owners called the new outdoors-only dining “gradual.”
She said that restaurants in her town that cannot configure outdoor dining are focusing on takeout and delivery. “Some might have a little lot in the back, with others potentially in the road,” Cantor said. “We’re looking at all different options for places that don’t have outdoor dining. And we are talking to the restaurants and asking what their vision is, what they would like to see and how they would perform best.”
Camillo said that he was pleased with the public reaction over the weekend. “People are walking, a lot are wearing masks and keeping distance, and some are not,”
Camillo said, noting that the town’s proximity to New Rochelle, the first hot zone for COVID-19 on the East Coast, stands as a warning to the public.
“I think people are really ready to open up, even if they are being very cautious as we partially reopen,” said Camillo, a former veteran member of the state House of Representatives who was elected to lead his hometown last November. “We’re also looking at it here in Greenwich as not only a partial reopening in the short term. We’re looking at how we can take this and extend it on a more permanent basis.”
Camillo is trying to plan after the pandemic and help the town envision and enhance the future, whether it’s new neighborhoods or a new Greenwich Avenue in the heart of the downtown. “This tragic time has forced us to look at things to be a little more-efficient and more effective,” Camillo said. “We don’t want to take any steps backwards. We’re still in the middle of it.”
Camillo said town officials are exploring the possibility of retail businesses and restaurants without outdoor access for sales or service, to possibly move to some town-owned space “whether it’s a field or a parking lot,” as long as the town can avoid legal exposure and liability. “There seems to be some possibility to do that. We want to offer the same opportunities to every small and local business than those that have the outdoor dining capabilities.”
Lamont asked Camillo of the possibility of Greenwich restaurateurs taking reservations exclusively from Connecticut residents.
“As we go around town every day walking and driving around, we’re seeing lots of New York plates,” Camillo admitted. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re all coming here to dine. We are seeing lots of people from New York City who are now looking to rent here in Greenwich and possibly buy, because of the space that it affords them where maybe the City doesn’t offer that.”
The governor said it’s unlikely that sleep-over camps will be allowed to reopen, although last week he held open the possibility that if the state were stringent in is social distancing, perhaps they could. Plans to reopen public schools will come later in June.