Gov. Ned Lamont: ‘Avoid’ People Traveling into Connecticut When State ‘Reopens’

Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said Thursday he would like to “avoid” having people from out of state travel into Connecticut to shop and dine when he begins his reopening plan on May 20.

The Hartford Courant asked Lamont “what’s to stop people” from New York and other nearby states from entering Connecticut to eat or shop once some businesses begin opening on May 20.

Lamont responded he “would like to avoid” such interaction.

“We don’t want to have a lot of traffic back and forth,” the governor said.

While hair salons and barber shops may open on May 20, Lamont said he recommended these owners only grant appointments to people they know and maybe begin opening with only one chair:

I think I’d probably offer some of the same advice to the restaurant owners … Our parks and our beaches were pretty busy. There were a fair number of out-of-staters coming in. Rhode Island has now opened up their parks and beaches. We’re able to make sure that out-of-staters have to have an appointment and maybe pay a fee to go use a Connecticut beach.

In his interview with the Courant, Lamont would not commit to indoor dining returning by June 20.

“[M]aybe sometime in mid-June, we say, ‘maybe we can risk it for restaurants,’ or maybe not,” he said. “We’ve got to be very careful about that. When it comes to indoor dining, we will want to try and coordinate that better with our other governors. As you know, [Rhode Island Gov.] Gina Raimondo is doing outdoor dining as well.”

Asked what he expects the summer will look like in Connecticut, Lamont replied, “There are a lot of questions,” and that “outdoors is a lot safer than indoors.”

“I’ll let you know how I’m thinking about things, and that’s the best I can do, and we have to reserve the right to change our minds,” he said.

As of May 16, Connecticut had 36,703 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 618 since the previous day. Deaths associated with the coronavirus reportedly rose by 54 from Friday to Saturday to 3,339. Hospitalizations decreased by 39 to 994.