Connecticut, Montana governors defend reopening states to full capacity

By Mary Rose Corkery

Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont explained Friday why he’s lifting some COVID-19 business restrictions during an interview on CNN’s “New Day.”

Lamont explained the state’s “been carefully reopening since May,” explaining that the majority of schools are fully operating five days a week and restaurants and retail stores are already operating at 50% capacity.

“Given the fact that we have so many of our people, well over 20% have been vaccinated, the vast majority of whom are over 55, where you’re most likely to suffer complications or hospitalization is down,” Lamont said. “So we thought this is something we know it works and maintaining the masks and the social distancing reinforces that we’re still — still know that we have a way to go.”

Lamont announced Thursday the state is keeping certain COVID-19 measures, including mask wearing, but certain restrictions will be lifted on various dates, according to a press release. Starting March 19, up to 25 people will be able to gather inside private residences and 100 people will be able to gather outside.

Commercial venues will be allowed to hold 100 people inside and 200 people outside starting on the same date, the press release said. Masks, cleaning measures and social distancing will still be mandatory.

Lamont said the government is keeping the mandate of six feet in social distancing and said that won’t change for the state’s restaurants.

“I can’t mandate common sense so people are gonna use their judgment. But we thought 25 was a reasonable number and if something happened, we can track and trace,” Lamont said.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that next Wednesday businesses will be able to fully reopen and wearing masks in public won’t be mandatory, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted that Mississippi’s businesses can also start fully operating on Wednesday and that the state is “lifting all our county mask mandates.”

Montana governor criticizes Biden’s ‘name-calling,’ says the state is returning to normal

Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said Friday that the state is returning to normal and criticized President Joe Biden’s “name-calling.”

“For a president that called for unity to degrade himself to name-calling doesn’t make any sense at all,” Gianforte said on Fox News’ “Fox And Friends.”

Gianforte said his administration is “working to protect our most vulnerable, we lifted the mask mandate, we prioritized taking care of the people that are in most need and we’re getting great results.”

“Hospitalizations are down and Montana’s open for business. We’re getting back to normal,” Gianforte said.

Biden and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki criticized governors who ended their mask mandates earlier this week, claiming they ignored science.

“The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters,” Biden said Wednesday.

Biden said he’s hopeful everyone knows masks are effective and said the U.S. is on the verge of “fundamentally” altering the course of the pandemic due to the vaccines.

The president also said vaccines for every American adult would be available by May.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” Gianforte said Friday. “I trust Montanans with their own health and that of their loved ones. But we’ve gotta shift away from these impractical mandates, one-size-fits-all.”

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that the state’s businesses can return to full operation March 10. Abbot also rescinded the requirement to wear masks in public, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also tweeted that Mississippi’s businesses can start fully operating next week and that the state is “lifting all our county mask mandates.” 

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4 thoughts on “Connecticut, Montana governors defend reopening states to full capacity

  1. Patience is a hard virtue to practice and even more so in this computer age of instant gratification. One of the values of a traditional Vermont lifestyle that includes such things as hunting, fishing, sugaring and growing your own food is that it teaches one that often good things take a bit of time.

    A good way to understand Phil Scott is how he handles himself when on the race track. He is noted for being a patient driver who, plans his race strategy according to the conditions of the track and what he know about the competition, carefully bides his time during the race and takes advantage of situations as they arise.

    Governor Scott has approached this pandemic in the same way. While he has been constantly seconded guessed, he has kept a steady hand, and Vermont, thanks to his leadership, has and continues to be on track to cross the finish line far ahead of the rest of the pack.

    • John,

      It’s up to each individual to decide for themselves what they want to do to stay safe.

      What about killing granny? If you don’t want to kill granny, then bring her food and medicine: allow her to isolate if that’s what she wants to do. If granny doesn’t want to isolate, that’s up to her.

      The Governor’s power to impose emergency restrictions on the population is too great and is unnecessary, and it has to be reigned in so that this never happens again. Let the people decide.

      “Just a few weeks to flatten the curve.” How’d that work out? And now Dr. Fauci is telling us, well, you know, if there are new variants …. Just stop. If we keep this up, in two years we’ll be complete slaves and the Vermont highways will be forever flashing signs to “stay safe.” There will always be an excuse … and the end will always be just around the corner, if we follow the rules.

      We need to stop using “science” (or data) as a fig leaf for tyranny. Anyone can find science to back up their position, but an objective assessment of all the available evidence is something Dr. Fauci, and too many other leaders at the NIH, are incapable of. This failure of honest science has trickled down and infected Vermont and too many other states.

      Another topic: review of safety of ivermectin. Conclusion: it’s safe. https://www.medincell.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Clinical_Safety_of_Ivermectin-March_2021.pdf Dr. Fauci is so out-of-touch that he has no idea what’s really going on.

    • Ye shall know them by their WoT.

      “A particular case is the concern troll, a false flag pseudonym created by a user whose actual point of view is opposed to the one that the sockpuppet claims to hold. The concern troll posts in Web forums devoted to its declared point of view and attempts to sway the group’s actions or opinions while claiming to share their goals, but with professed “concerns”. ”
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock_puppet_account

      Classic!

  2. A real governor, too bad not here.

    Gov. Kristi Noem torches Fauci during emotional CPAC speech | FULL
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y750zcVhOq4 (25:52:

    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem uses her CPAC speech to tout her state’s handling of the coronavirus and contrasted it with “blue state” governors. #FoxNews​ #CPAC

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