Connecticut has been fully reopened for just over a month now. Residents said they are happy to leave masks, social distancing, and strict protocols behind.
"It's nice to be back to normal, it feels very good," said Amanda McArthur, who works at The Elbow Room in West Hartford.
Restaurants like The Elbow Room were hit hard during the pandemic, and the loosening of restrictions has been a game-changer.
"It's been absolutely insane; we are hitting numbers we haven't hit in almost a decade. We're doing crazy, crazy sales, all of the distributors are out of everything we can't keep up on food, alcohol, anything. We've just been very, very busy," said Ashley Betty, of The Elbow Room. "Last year, last summer last winter, we closed down twice, and we were all out of work for almost six months last year in total so to be back and actually making money and getting to do what we like to do, it feels good," she said.
People also said they feel safer and more comfortable now. The state's latest vaccination numbers show about 61% of the population has gotten at least one dose, and about 55% is fully vaccinated.
"Vaccinated and everything so I feel like we're ready to go. It has a good efficacy rate too, people aren't really catching it anymore and stuff like that," said Qasim Gondal of Wolcott.
The numbers speak for themselves. On reopening day, May 19th, the state reported 145 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 and a positivity rate of 1.19%. The latest data from June 18th shows 33 people hospitalized and a positivity rate of 0.45%.
Another sign of a return to normalcy is mass vaccination sites are coming down. Community Health Center is closing its mass vaccination sites on June 30th.
People in Connecticut said they are ready to leave COVID-19 behind and are only looking forward.
"Love it. Enjoying it, don't ever go back," said Jane Cooper of Norwich.