Lamont: Major Rollback of COVID-19 Restrictions a Possibility

On Monday, Governor Lamont spoke of increasing capacity at restaurants and retail outlets and hinted of a major rollback of COVID-19 restrictions.

It is not a done deal just yet. The Hartford Courant has been reporting that the  Governor has been considering getting rid of the state's travel advisory and increasing entertainment and sports venue capacity.

Restaurant owners are hopeful that Lamont gives them the OK to increase their capacity to 75% or possibly full capacity with masks and social distancing rules still in place.

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The Courant has stated that an announcement will be made on Thursday after the Governor has a sit down with his advisers and takes a close look at the daily COVID-19 metrics. Massachusetts has already allowed full capacity for restaurants, and Pennsylvania has lifted all restrictions on out-of-state travel. The following video is Governor Lamont's COVID update from Monday, March 1.

"With the lifting of COVID restrictions comes the risk of moving too quickly," says Dr. Tom Balcezak, a chief clinical officer at Yale-New Haven Health. Lamont believes that it's time to slowly but surely get back to normalcy when he said;

You look at where our infection rates are, you look at hospitalizations, you look over the last week, over the last month, over the last three or four months, you see a trend line that gives you some confidence.

Keith Grant, Hartford HealthCare's Senior System Director for infection prevention thinks it's too soon to relax restrictions saying, "The state's encouraging trends depend on continued vigilance."