In The Loop – August 6, 2021

The great Tip O’Neil always said: “All politics is local”

CT Governor Ned Lamont sure is taking the lead from former US Congress Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil in relation to his recent executive order regarding managing the spread of the newest variant of the COVID-19 virus. Yesterday, the Governor declared that mayors and first selectmen should make the call given the variance in infection rates between Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns. Some towns have less than 40% vaccinated, but not a high level of positive tests. Other town have a high percentage of vaccination but a soaring positively rate according to CDC statistics.

Some say there’s only a short period of concern, others say that we could experience 12 to 15 days of increased infection rates. Countries like the U.K. and India, who saw some of the worst upticks in infections, have now started to return to a more normal state of affairs. So if that is true, Connecticut, which saw last week its high water mark at almost 3% positive tests, is now back at under 3%, currently sitting around 2.7%. Since the onset of this public health crisis in March of 2020, Connecticut has had over 10 million tests with 357,000+ people testing positive, and currently has 157 people in the hospital being treated for serious COVID symptoms.

As the 2022 gubernatorial election cycle starts to heat up for real, it seems like Governor Lamont is looking to show a collaborative leadership style in addressing this “second” wave of concern based on the new variant. With controversy at all corners of the state in the media, social media, community meetings, and other public circles, no one really wants to return to the “old” days of the pandemic, where we have to wear masks everywhere, return to 6 ft. social distancing and avoid large group gatherings…
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