Connecticut is one of four states on track to contain COVID-19, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said Thursday. This comes as at least 16 states are seeing a surge in cases.
The website lists Connecticut's infection rate as o.69 percent, the positive test rate at 0.9 and contact tracing at 100 percent.
Gov. Ned Lamont and state officials held a briefing at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison and urging people to continue to be safe, wear masks and stay at least six feet away from people who are not members of their immediate households.
Lamont said 80,000 tests were done this week, including 11,000 yesterday, and less than .6 percent of tests done yesterday were positive, making seven days in a row of less than 1 percent.
The interim state Department of Public Health Commissioner Deidre Gifford, and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner Katie Dykes also took part in the news conference.
DEEP has limited the parking capacity at state parks and beaches it oversees and is closing them when they reach that capacity. Residents are urged not to walk onto closed beaches, but to come back another day.
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To see what's open, check this website from the state.
Hammonasset Beach State Park is one of several shoreline beaches and parks have remained open to swimming.
“We’re open because of each and every one of you doing the right thing,” Lamont said.
Dykes urged people to wear a mask, keep six feet of distance when passing others on trails or beaches, and to keep blankets at a distance of 15 feet between blankets of other groups.
Anyone who is picnicking is encouraged to bring a tablecloth and disinfectant because they cannot sanitize tables between use as parks and beaches that have them.
Gifford said things are going well in Connecticut from a public health perspective and reminded people who are choosing to gather over the holiday weekend that outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor locations and to limit private indoor gatherings to close family and to have no more than 25 people. The limit on outdoor private gatherings is 100 people, but residents are advised to keep outdoor gatherings small.
State Senator Christine Cohen, deputy president pro tempore represents Branford, Durham, Guilford, Killingworth, Madison and North Branford and she urged people to remember to wear their masks.
She also addressed the impact the virus has had on local businesses and urged people to support them and to follow safety guidelines when doing so.
She urged people to go to local stores to buy items and go to local eateries to enjoy meals, but to wear masks and keep a social distance while doing so.
The governor was asked about phase three and plans for indoor dining and said restaurant capacity will remain at 50 percent capacity for now and the bars will “have to take a pause. “
Connecticut’s Inland swimming areas remain closed because they are smaller locations to accommodate many visitors and keep people at a safe distance from each other.
As of Wednesday, the state has had 46,572 positive cases out of 475,862 tests reported, 100 hundred people are hospitalized to be treated for COVID-19 and 4,324 people have died.
