Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont defended his plans on Monday to ease Covid’s restrictions in the state starting next week, telling CNBC that he believes a decline in new infections and the distribution of vaccines support such a move.
“We have the vast majority of our population at greatest risk now have been vaccinated. That’s 65 and above, and most people are 55 and above, ”said Lamont in“ Squawk on the Street ”. “This is where all the fatalities are, this is where 98% of hospitalizations occurred, so we are very confident that March 19 is a good date that we can continue to reopen.”
Half of Connecticut residents aged 55 or older received at least one dose of the vaccine, including three-quarters of people in the state aged 75 or older, according to data released on Monday. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two injections, while Johnson & Johnson vaccines are a single injection vaccine.
Connecticut has reported 7,725 deaths associated with Covid since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest state data. Of these deaths, 7,555 were people aged 50 years or older, the majority being at least 80 years old.
Lamont, a Democrat, last week announced his intentions to reverse a series of pandemic-era restrictions in Connecticut starting March 19, including removing capacity limits for restaurants, salons and churches. A statewide masking mandate will remain in effect, and Lamont is still limiting the capacity of some businesses, such as 50% for cinemas and performing arts spaces.
However, Lamont’s decision represents a significant step in the pandemic for the state, which along with New York and New Jersey was one of the hardest hit during Covid’s first wave last spring.
Some leaders in other states have gone further than Lamont. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott last week declared on Twitter that his status is “100% OPEN” after he lifted business restrictions and a mask mandate.
Public health experts urged Americans not to be complacent with mitigation measures, despite the daily case count dropping dramatically since the peak in January. Especially with the presence of emerging virus variants, they warn, a very significant mitigation can lead to an increase in cases again.
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, the White House chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that reversing all public health guidelines is now “inexplicable”, that the count of new infections in the country is still very high.
Lamont said the goal of his move to ease capacity constraints was “to emphasize what works”.
“The masks work. Five feet away works,” said Lamont. “The difference between 75% and 100% in a restaurant is very difficult to apply anyway, and we think, quite frankly, that we have a very low infection rate now, a lot of capacity in our hospitals. This was the time to make the change. . “