WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut has moved up the reopening date for phase two and now business owners are busy getting ready for the return of customers starting June 17th.
Phase 2 allows for the reopening of amusement parks, hotels, indoor dining, museums, zoos, aquariums, bowling, movie theaters, libraries, nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms, and pools.
Reopening June 17th is optional. People we talked to had mixed feelings. Wendy Stanton of West Hartford said, “We flattened the curve which has been great. But jumping back in. We need to go slow.” Al Ogilvie of Hartford said, “We need to get this economy booming again.”
We talked to Dave Rutigliano. He owns seven restaurants across Connecticut. He’s also a state representative. On this day, Dave was in Trumbull at the Sitting Duck Tavern installing these plexiglass dividers between booths to get ready for indoor dining. “We’ve been going around to all of our restaurants and measuring to see where we can install these barriers.”
For every business sector, the state has put out documents detailing what they need to do to meet the reopening criteria. Restaurants need to sanitize the menus. “We use menus made out of Never Tear paper. It’s made by Xerox and it’s spun PVC. You can actually put that in the dishwasher if you felt like it. It’s fully sanitizable,” said Rutigliano.
Cinemas will be required to thoroughly sanitize seats. “Inside dining and movie theaters especially. It will be months I think before I’d go back to that,” said Stanton.
Bowling centers will only allow customers to use one bowling ball, hotels will be without coffee bars and ice machines and room service will be left at the door. “Personally, I love it here in Blue Back Square. I’m always at World it Beer or Barnes & Noble. Pretty soon my gym is going to reopen,” said Ogilvie.
But gyms will open only every 3rd locker and you’ll be required to bring your own water bottles. “Not only is it going to stimulate the economy but it’s going to boost people’s morale. They will have things to do. They will be able to get back to what is now going to be the new normal,” said Ogilvie.
And don’t forget to bring your mask wherever you go or you might be denied service. The self-certification process for business owners started today and the state is keeping track of who’s done it. All businesses that do reopen will be reduced to 50% capacity.