Lamont expands gathering size for phase 2

Gov. Ned Lamont has expanded the size of group gatherings beginning Wednesday to 25 people for indoor gatherings and 100 people for outdoor gatherings — up from limits of 10 indoors and 25 outdoors — as the state enters phase two of reopening and looks ahead to the July 4 holiday.

By mid-July, Lamont said outdoor gathers could expand to as many as 250 people, with social distancing protocols still in place.

The expansion for large gatherings — one of the first restrictions Lamont put in place in early March — comes after weeks of protests against police brutality across the state and nation. Those prompted questions, Lamont said, from people wondering why, if such large groups could gather for protest, they couldn’t gather in larger groups for graduations, weddings and other events.

“When it comes to these social gatherings you’re more likely to be interfacing with people closer, maybe drinking, less likely to have a mask. That’s on the negative side,” Lamont said.

“On the positive, they tend to be invitation only or you know everybody who is going to be there so if there was a flareup, if someone is found to be infected, track and trace is a lot easier to manage.”

Lamont also said that he wanted to provide people a greater ability to plan ahead with the July 4 holiday approaching and many asking about other summer events such as weddings.

He said he will work with the municipalities to hold outdoor fireworks celebrations with capacity limits, perhaps up to 500 people, along with social distancing protocols like spacing out groups.

“We want to give you some idea so you can plan, so you have some idea about events going forward so you can plan accordingly, comma, be wary, if the metrics change, hospitalizations change, we have these flareups, we’ll have to change course,” Lamont said. “But that gives you some idea so you can plan accordingly, knowing there’s a fair amount of risk.”

Lamont added that his own daughter, who had scheduled her wedding for Labor Day weekend, has decided to postpone it to avoid having to cancel or shrink the event in case of a flareup.

Even as the state has reopened, though, the infection rate, hospitalizations and deaths have continued to decline, providing some optimism for those planning ahead.

Lamont attributed that success to a culture of caution in the state, as most people appear to be following safety protocols like wearing masks, maintaining social distance and sanitizing regularly. Lamont said he does not plan to implement stricter enforcement for mask wearing, even as the state reopens and more people become comfortable without one.

The state reported six new deaths from coronavirus Tuesday, double the number of deaths reported Monday but still a substantial drop from the state’s peak, as Connecticut stays on track with improved numbers.

Connecticut is also among the states with the lowest transmission rates — the estimated average number of people infected by every person with COVID-19, Gov. Ned Lamont said. That’s a crucial measure for recovery.

The number of hospitalizations dropped again to 201, down from the state’s peak of 1,972 on April 22. Another 114 people tested positive for the virus out of 5,041 new tests conducted, a 2.3 percent rate.

A total of 4,210 people have died from or with the virus in the state and 45,349 people have tested positive for the virus. The state has conducted more than 359,000 tests — nearly 10 percent of the total population, though many people have been tested twice or more.

Lamont said he’s focusing on hot spots around the country “like a laser beam” as the state continues to reopen. Connecticut is one of only a handful of states trending in a positive direction when it comes to infections, hospitalizations and deaths, he said.

The state’s infection rate — the percentage of tests revealing positive results for COVID-19 — has averaged 2.6 percent in June. In May, the average infection rate was 8.8 percent, but fewer tests were being conducted then in addition to the virus’ increased prevalence.

Lamont said he did not believe the state opened for phase one too early.

“The trend lines … have continued down,” he said.