Lamont: Don't Make Thanksgiving Coronavirus Mistake Again

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut’s coronavirus spike after Thanksgiving may be leveling off, but Gov. Ned Lamont said people can’t get careless, especially as Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Eve approach.

“We all paid a price for that,” he said about Thanksgiving gatherings leading to more cases, “Maybe that’s leveling out now, we’ll see, but let’s not let that happen again.”

Connecticut’s coronavirus hospitalizations dropped by 49 patients down to 1,205 currently hospitalized Thursday. On the flip side, another 46 coronavirus-related deaths were reported.

The state’s positive test rate was 6.46 percent with more than 2,300 new cases reported Thursday.

Lamont strongly encouraged state residents to celebrate the holidays only with members of their immediate household in-person and to celebrate with others virtually.

Medium risk activities include gatherings indoors with mask use and good ventilation, he said. Outdoor gatherings are a better alternative for those who will gather outside their immediate household.

“I think this next few weeks should be a time to be merry, it’s also a time to be cautious,” he said.

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Some business relief, with hope for a big federal package soon

Connecticut is sending out around 10,000 relief checks to businesses with 20 or fewer employees. The Department of Economic and Community Development will also roll out a $25 million program for slightly larger businesses soon, Lamont said.

Lamont remains hopeful that a $300 billion paycheck protection program relief package will pass Congress. Connecticut's businesses can expect around $300 million of that, he said.

The Connecticut Brewers Guild asked Lamont to relax rules for breweries so that customers wouldn’t need to purchase food in order to consume an alcoholic beverage. In exchange the guild said Lamont should consider reducing the current table size down from eight guests.

“Requiring breweries, along with the rest of the industry, to provide what has been strictly defined as ‘substantial meals’ seems to be have been made arbitrarily,” said guild director Phil Pappas in an open letter to Lamont. “Before the pandemic, breweries were never legally required to offer food prepared on-premise, but we have adapted and altered our businesses entirely so that we can remain open to the public.”