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October 6, 2020

CT to begin phase 3 reopening Thursday

Restaurants with outdoor seating along LaSalle Road in West Hartford Center. HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper Restaurants with outdoor seating along LaSalle Road in West Hartford Center.
By Sean Teehan

Connecticut on Thursday is scheduled to move into its phase 3 reopening, a move that will expand indoor dining capacity and allow many theaters and other performance houses to welcome guests for the first time since March.

Under phase 3 reopening guidelines, restaurants will be allowed to fill their dining rooms to 75% capacity (from the current 50% limit). The new guidelines will also allow indoor performing arts venues to open at 50% capacity, and outdoor venues like amphitheaters to host events at 50% capacity (up from current 25%). Bars and nightclubs will remain closed.

The move to go forward with reopening comes as Connecticut has been experiencing a rise in positive COVID-19 cases. Connecticut recorded 833 new infections among the 50,333 tests over the past three days, for a positivity rate of 1.64%. New London County is seeing particularly high rates for the state, with a 3.4% positivity rate, compared to Hartford County, which is currently showing a 1.5% rate, according to data from covidactnow.org.

Gov. Ned Lamont previously said he'd consider pausing phase 3 if the state reached a positivity rate between 3% and 5%. Lamont had originally intended to begin phase 3 reopenings earlier, but delayed it, citing spikes in other states at the time.

Restaurateurs in the state have long asked Lamont to increase capacity at restaurants, with Connecticut Restaurant Association Scott Dolch pointing out that eateries here are largely operating safely and within state guidelines. Even as phase 3 approaches, Connecticut's restaurant industry remains in trouble.

Following a complete shutdown of the dine-in restaurant industry when COVID-19 began infecting residents and spreading nationwide, Connecticut eateries began a slow reopening process in May. 

In recent months, restaurants have been pumping up their takeout operations, spending money to set up and break down outdoor tables and chairs each day, and figuring out new ways to offer customers an enjoyable dining experience, while still following health-and-safety guidelines, Dolch says. 

But with a COVID-19 vaccine likely not coming until sometime in 2021, and the threat of the disease lasting at least until then, eventually it will be too cold to eat outside, dealing another devastating blow to a beleaguered industry. 

 

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