Topline
Connecticut will lift all capacity limits on certain businesses including restaurants, gyms, offices and houses of worship starting March 19, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday, going further than most other Democratic-led states to roll back Covid-19 restrictions even as public health officials advise governors not to do so.
L’escale restaurant on May 20, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Restaurants, retail businesses, libraries, personal services, indoor recreation facilities, gyms, fitness centers, museums, aquariums, zoos, offices and houses of worship will all have their capacity limits repealed.
Social distancing protocols will still be in place and face masks will be required, and there will be some restrictions: theaters will remain restricted to 50% capacity, restaurants are limited to eight people per table and must close at 11 p.m. and bars that only serve beverages will still be closed entirely.
The state’s mask mandate will remain in effect.
Gathering limits on social and recreational gatherings will also be increased March 19 to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors at a private residence, or 100 people indoors and 200 outdoors at a commercial venue.
On April 2, the state will open outdoor amusement parks, open indoor stadiums at 10% capacity and increase occupancy at outdoor event venues to 50% capacity or up to 10,000 people.
Connecticut will be one of only a few Democratic-led states to have such relaxed capacity restrictions: Virginia does not have capacity restrictions at restaurants or places of worship but does at gyms, Wisconsin’s capacity limit order has expired and Kansas’ restrictions are determined by county, with many having few or no limits.
Crucial Quote
“I think we’re finding what works is wearing the mask, social distancing and vaccinations,” Lamont said at a briefing Thursday about controlling the spread of Covid-19, rather than having officials “adjust the dial and go capacity up 10% or down 10%.”
Big Number
21.3%. That’s the percentage of Connecticut residents who have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, giving the state one of the highest vaccination rates in the country. Though the state’s Covid-19 cases have trended downward over the past two weeks, the New York Times reports Connecticut right now has the 10th highest number of new Covid-19 cases per capita of any state, at 22 cases per 100,000 people.
Key Background
Connecticut is one of a number of states that have moved to relax their Covid-19 restrictions, including both Republican-led states like Texas that have dropped restrictions entirely and Democratic states like New York that have taken such steps as reopening entertainment venues and increasing capacity on indoor dining. The trend has been decried by public health officials, however, who warn that the recent decline in Covid-19 cases nationwide is plateauing at a still-high level as more transmissible variants of the coronavirus take hold. “At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard earned ground we have gained,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Wallensky said Monday. “Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close.”
