Coronavirus CT: Lamont Issues Thanksgiving Gathering Guidance
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CONNECTICUT — Staring down a 6.5 percent positive coronavirus test rate and 21 virus-associated deaths in the past 24 hours, Gov. Ned Lamont provided guidance for residents making Thanksgiving plans.
"My strong recommendation is, if you are having Thanksgiving, do it with just your immediate family members," the governor said at a news conference Thursday. "I can set a rule, I can set a law, I can pretend we're going to have fines, but that's meaningless."
Lamont said he and other regional governors with whom he met last weekend expect Thanksgiving will "kick over the hornet's nest." They anticipate an influx of people coming into the state from areas of the country with much higher infection rates than the Northeast.
On Wednesday, Lamont and the other governors issued a joint statement urging college students to get tested for the virus before returning home: "Our strong guidance is: stick to your family cohort."
Lamont doubled down on the Thanksgiving recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which call for gatherings to be held outdoors, with people keeping 6 feet apart, wearing masks and having just one person serving food. The CDC also recommends guests bring their own food, drinks, plates, cups and utensils; avoid going in and out of the areas where food is being prepared or handled; bring single-use items like salad dressing and condiment packets; and bring disposable food containers, plates and utensils.
"We just need people to take Thanksgiving off and follow the rules," Josh Geballe, Connecticut's chief operating officer, said. "This is such an important time for our state to bend this curve and get these numbers back under control otherwise we are going to be faced with increasingly difficult choices about how we manage this pandemic going forward."
Around 15 percent of people who took an informal Patch survey said they typically celebrate Thanksgiving only with members of their immediate family at home. However, this year 80 percent of survey respondents said they would be doing just that due to the pandemic.
The American Automobile Association reported this week 89 percent of residents do not plan to travel this Thanksgiving and 50 percent of those cite coronavirus concerns as the deciding factor.
If private celebrations do get out of hand, Geballe said local law enforcement can issue fines for gatherings that violate attendance restrictions.
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The governor also had some guidelines and recommendations for the day after Thanksgiving.
Black Friday kicks off the "most important five weeks in retail," Lamont said, and he believes shopping "can be done safely."
Lamont said he is counting on store management to enforce the 50 percent maximum capacity regulations, and expects shoppers will be asked to wait outside if that capacity has been reached.
He also warned shopping mall management to enforce social distancing requirements within their common areas and food courts. Otherwise, "we are going to have a hard time keeping retail open," he said.
Lamont recommended retailers plan ahead for lines, maximize curbside pickup, take on additional staff and security, and incorporate more flexible hours to accommodate seniors.
In neighboring Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo is taking drastic action. Starting the week after Thanksgiving, the state will enter a two-week "pause" period, which will temporarily close or limit large sectors of the economy and scale back in-person high school learning. Lamont said he did not anticipate needing to take comparable actions in his state.
This article originally appeared on the Across Connecticut Patch
