Mayor Announces Formation of 'Reopen Danbury Committee'

DANBURY, CT — In a livestreamed news conference Monday evening, Mayor Mark Boughton provided some clarity on the latest guidelines put forth by Gov. Ned Lamont on how some city businesses might reopen.

The mayor also announced the formation of the Reopen Danbury Committee, which is currently recruiting members.

"They are going to try and take some of these very difficult, complicated regulations and distill them down for each of the various industries, and provide some general guidance for people. The mayor said he hoped to "get that rolling next week," as the first phase of reopening — which includes restaurants, offices, hair salons and barbershops, retail stores, and outdoor museums and zoos — kicks off May 20.

The Danbury Fair Mall will be opening on May 20, Boughton said, but with some restrictions. The mayor noted that hair salons in the Mall, and elsewhere, will be opening, but not nail salons.

As of Monday evening, the mayor said there were "probably 15-20 stores" in the Mall that would be electing to stay closed "because they have not worked out all the protocols of what they are going to do."

The mayor said the city is working on an "expedited approval process" for eateries looking to add outdoor seating to comply with the governor's mandates. The approval applications will be made available on the city's website, and will be temporary, lasting through just to the end of the COVID-19 crisis.

Boughton again expressed his fear that the end of the pandemic was going to be further off than many hoped.

"I think we will have a resurgence (of COVID-19 cases) as we get to August and September," the mayor said.

The city had had "a relatively quiet few days," with only three new positive cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths attributed to the virus. Boughton interpreted that as meaning the "spread was slowing."