HARTFORD, Conn — Senator Richard Blumenthal will be hosting a virtual roundtable today at 11 a.m.
The roundtable will feature members from the Connecticut Restaurant Association to discuss the challenges that local restaurants are facing as winter approaches and COVID-19 cases rise.
Sen. Blumenthal has been calling on Congress to provide financial support to the restaurant industry in any pandemic relief package.
Popular restaurants like Trumbull Kitchen in Hartford and Lucky Lou’s in Wethersfield have already announced that they intend to shut their doors for the winter months.
Earlier this week, a group of local doctors called on Governor Ned Lamont to roll back reopening as cases rise in the state along with hospitalizations and deaths. Restaurant industry workers and gym owners say they should be staying open.
Dr. Luke Davis, who is an attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said, "We are at a caseload here in Connecticut that exceeds sort of what we had back in the spring."
Medical professionals say if Gov. Lamont shuts down indoor dining and closes gyms amongst other restrictions it may help curb the spread.
Wednesday, the governor's office released the state's COVID-19 statistics showing an increase in positivity rate, hospitalizations, and virus-related deaths.
Connecticut administered 41,001 tests and 2,672 came back positive, yielding 6.52%. There were 50 new hospitalizations since Monday bringing CT's current total to 1,202 patients. New Haven County has the most COVID-19 hospitalizations with 392 people. Fairfield County has 375 patients and Hartford County has 309 patients.
There were 51 COVID-19 related deaths reported. The state's COVID-19 death toll is now 5,091 people.