Governor Ned Lamont is in a tough spot. This week, he had a group of medical professionals send him a letter saying the way to stop the spike in hospital admissions due to Covid-19 is to close businesses like indoor restaurants and gyms. Meanwhile, the business owners who run those restaurants and gyms are asking for looser restrictions so they can stay afloat during an economic collapse.
He has parents calling him because their kids can’t go to school to learn or play sports, and teachers calling because they’re teaching in classroom conditions they feel are unsafe.
Everyone wants to be at the front of the line when vaccines start to roll into the state by the end of the year, and aside from CDC guidance, he’s getting little help from Washington, where lawmakers continue to dicker over an aid package.
That was the backdrop for our conversation with Gov. Lamont this week. In part one, we talked about the alarming rise in Connecticut’s infection and hospitalization rates, plans to help businesses through the pandemic, and who should be first in line to get vaccines.