Fines Will Now Be Issued For Mask, Event Size Violations in CT: Lamont

Fines will now be implemented for those who are not following Connecticut's mask orders and event size limits, according to Governor Ned Lamont.

The governor said a $100 fine will be implemented for individuals who do not follow the state's mask order.

Also, people will now have to pay a $500 fine for organizing an event that exceeds size limits and those who attend events that exceed size limits will have to pay a $250 fine, Lamont said.

Currently, gatherings of 25 people are allowed indoors and 100-person gatherings are allowed outdoors.

These fines can be issued by law enforcement, local chief elected official designees and local public health officials, according to Lamont.

The effective date for these fines will be finalized this week, Lamont said.

New Coronavirus Numbers

Coronavirus hospitalizations in Connecticut have increased and five new deaths have been reported since Friday.

There are now 64 hospitalizations and the death toll in the state now stands at 4,485.

An additional 569 people have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday, bringing the state's total to 54,895.

With nearly 50,000 tests performed over the last three days, the positive test rate is just above one percent at 1.16%.

Last week ended with three straight days in a row of a COVID-19 test positivity rate above 1% after the rate hovered under that mark for much of the last month.

Lamont said the COVID-19 infection rate in schools is less than one percent. He said he feels good about the way the state has gone with schools in the past two weeks.

The governor is encouraging people are encouraged to get flu shots. He said he is worried about flu flare-ups which could start as early as October.

Travel Advisory Update

Those traveling to Connecticut from hotspot states and territories under the travel advisory will now have the option of quarantining for 14 days or providing a negative COVID-19 test result from within 72 hours before travel, Lamont said.

This change was implemented as a way to simplify the old policy, which provided a number of exclusions to the quarantine option, according to Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe.

Travel forms will still be required, according to Lamont.

Four additional states were added to Connecticut’s list of COVID-19 hotspots and two territories were removed on Sept. 8.

The latest details on the advisory and an FAQ can be found here

Delaware, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia were added to the list while Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were removed.