Reopening Of Bars, Youth Sports, More In New ‘Roadmap’

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday released a "Roadmap for Reopening" that includes more detail about the second phase of the state's easing of restrictions following the coronavirus outbreak — and a tease for phase three.

The 43-page report was prepared with input from state agencies and departments, legislators, and experts from the Reopen CT Advisory Group.

According to the report, the state is on track for the second phase of reopening which includes:

• Selected youth sports (June 20)
• Public libraries (June 20)
• All summer day camps (June 22)
• Nonresidential workforce programs (mid-June)
• Nonresidential clinical/laboratory courses (mid-June)
• K- 12 summer school (July 6)
• Other nonresidential programs, community colleges (July/August)
• Graduate programs (July/August)
• Undergraduate residential small-scale pilot programs (July/August)

Criteria for the triggering of phase 2 include a less than 100-bed net increase in hospitalizations in the last week of phase 1; an increase in testing to 100,000 tests a week, connected with more than 50 percent of identified contacts within 48 hours; and implementation of a testing plan for key workers and priority high-risk communities.

Phase 3 will follow "at least four weeks after," predicated upon specific criteria yet to be released by the state, and will include:

• Bars
• Indoor event spaces and venues
• Indoor amusement parks and arcades
• Outdoor events of up to 100 people

Higher education reopening plans will be developed by each institution, according to the report. These are to include details for monitoring health conditions to detect infections, containment to prevent the spread of the disease should it be detected, and shutdown if it becomes necessary.

The report projects that K-12 schools, boarding schools, and undergraduate residential programs will reopen in the fall, as originally scheduled, although "all sectors require strong distancing and hygiene safeguards and business can open only when ready and compliant." A complete reopening plan for the fall is scheduled to be released in early June, Lamont said.

The governor warned that Connecticut could revert to a prior reopening phase if there is one week of sustained increase in the seven-day rolling average in new hospitalizations or a 200 bed increase in the COVID-19 hospital census since beginning of the previous phase.

The report also tallied the hits taken by the local economy in the wake of the virus outbreak. These include the shuttering of 35,000 businesses, a 4.8 percent decrease in the state's gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year, and 531,000 unemployment claims.

Although the plans for reopening Connecticut appear to be proceeding full throttle, Lamont's experts identified the following "knowledge gaps" in the report:

• How much transmission has occurred or may occur after the state reopens
• Whether transmission will increase or decrease in winter and summer seasons
• The age groups (young adults, school children?) that contribute to transmission and serve as reservoirs for community spread
• Risk of severe complications in children and younger adults
• The nature of immunity after infection (lack of evidence for a back-to-work certificate based on antibody testing)

According to the report, the state plans to "implement efforts" to immunize every resident who does not have a contraindication to the influenza vaccine. "The likelihood of a COVID-19 resurgence is high even in the optimistic scenario," the report states.

"We do not know at present how seasonality will influence COVID-19 transmission, but the potential is high that increased transmission will occur in the winter season when seasonal influenza is greatest."

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