Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday he’s considering easing some COVID-19 restrictions in Connecticut, including for places of worship, possibly as early as next week.
Under the state’s rules, indoor church services are limited to 50% capacity, capped at 100 people. Worshipers must wear masks and social distance.
“Let’s lift that numerical cap. Let’s do it now,” the Democrat told reporters during his COVID-19 briefing. “But if you haven’t been vaccinated, probably it’s better stay home for a little bit longer if you are of a certain age.”
As of Thursday, about 35% of state residents 75 years and older have received the vaccine. There have been a total of 364,255 vaccinations, which includes 299,876 first doses and 64.379 second doses administered.
The Connecticut Catholic Conference welcomed the news that Lamont planned to ease the state’s restrictions, saying in a written statement that multiple steps have already been taken by clergy and parishioners to reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
“Infections and related problems in our parishes have been minimal due to the hard work of all concerned,” the statement read.
Lamont said he plans to release some “clear guidance” on which restrictions will be eased early next week, noting there has been “good news” with Connecticut’s recent COVID-19 trendlines. According to data through Jan. 27 from Johns Hopkins University, the rolling average number of daily new cases has decreased in Connecticut by 1,131, a decrease of 37.5% over the past two weeks.
Lamont acknowledged that Rhode Island and Massachusetts both are lifting curfews on their restaurants. Connecticut currently has a 10 p.m. curfew, which he said is “worth looking at.”
Meanwhile, the state on Thursday crossed the threshold of more than 7,000 COVID-associated deaths. There have been 7,020, an increase of 44 since Wednesday. While a new report from the New York state attorney general charges that the state may have undercounted COVID-19 nursing home residents by thousands, Lamont said he believes Connecticut has been “very accurate” in its reporting.
“We have tried to be brutally accurate,” said Lamont, highlighting how Connecticut counted COVID-related deaths as COVID deaths since the early days of the pandemic.
In other coronavirus-related news:
PRISON VACCINATIONS
Connecticut’s acting correction commissioner says staff at the state’s prisons will start being vaccinated against COVID-19 on Monday.
Angel Quiros made the announcement Thursday during a legislative hearing on his permanent appointment to the job.
It comes a day after correction officers expressed frustration with a lack of a vaccination plan in the prison system.
Quiros said the department has identified 27 prisoners who are 75 or older and they also will begin receiving shots on Monday. He did not say when the rest of the prison population would begin getting vaccinated. Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer, said that’s “still in the planning phase.” He noted plans are also underway to begin vaccinating inpatient populations at Connecticut Valley Hospital and Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown.
Quiros said a survey of 5,400 staff members showed 1,962 willing to take the vaccination, 1,694 who indicated they will not and 663 who said they are undecided.
“They can’t be forced to take the vaccination,” he said. “We’re educating, sending out educational material. We want to get to a higher percentage. We have a potential to end probably with a low 60 compliance rate for the vaccination. We want that percentage higher.””
Quiros said the vaccinations will be administered at clinics in seven prisons run by health care workers from Griffin Hospital in Derby.
Quiros said they expect to have the first stage of the two-dose vaccinations completed by Feb. 22.
The Department of Correction has reported 19 deaths related to COVID-19 during the pandemic, all among prisoners. Six of those have come this month.
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