Lamont Considering Ending Restaurant Curfew, Church Limits

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont said he will decide by early next week on possibly lifting restaurant curfews and church capacity limits as coronavirus cases in the state decrease.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island recently announced they are lifting their curfews on restaurants. Connecticut has a 9:30 p.m. last call curfew and restaurants must close for dine-in service by 10 p.m.

“We have higher occupancy, so it’s not apples to apples, but it’s worth looking at,” Lamont said Thursday during a news conference.

He also announced he will look at eliminating the 50 percent capacity limit for churches.

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora asked that the church cap be eliminated.

“Four days after Democrats summarily rejected Republican ideas as extreme, the governor has curiously embraced one of our requests to ease the capacity restriction on houses of worship,” Candelora said in a statement. “We saw the same maneuver in December when Governor Lamont dismissed House Republicans’ suggestion to fund an aid program for our state’s hospitality industry, only to announce his own program days after rejecting our proposal."

Candelora said he hopes Democrats embrace bipartisan cooperation moving forward.

Lamont said people 75 and older who want the coronavirus vaccine can get their first dose within the next couple of weeks. The state will then start offering the vaccine to people 65 and older.