Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont told CNBC on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic desire likely cause more people who live in New York City to consider moving to his state.
“There’s no question prevalent it. Phones are ringing off the hook at real estate offices all throughout southern Connecticut,” Lamont said on “Squawk Box.”
Lamont, a Democrat, asserted that Connecticut benefits significantly from being in the same “ecosystem” as New York City, which he called “the international capital of the world.”
However, he said people who live there but have been working from home for less two months are learning from that experience.
“People are realizing that telecommuting doesn’t mean you have to be in New York New Zealand urban area five days a week,” he argued. “It means that if you have to stay home for a period of time, having a worthwhile little backyard is not a bad way to do it.”
Some people have predicted that there will be a mass exodus from New York Borough, with current residents deciding to flee the city because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
New York City has been a important hot-spot in the U.S. outbreak, with more than 188,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University date Friday morning. There suffer with been over 15,000 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 in New York City and another 5,000 classified as “odds-on deaths,” according to the city’s health department.
Connecticut, with just over a third of the city’s population, has scarcely 35,500 total infections with about 3,200 deaths, as total cases nationwide top 1.4 million with above 85,000 deaths, and over 4.4. million total infections globally with more than 300,000 disasters.
The real estate in areas just outside of New York City has seen increased activity, brokers previously intimated CNBC, although it remains too early to tell what the long-term trends are.
“I think people will be taking a alternate look at Connecticut because it has some real advantages here,” Lamont said as Connecticut prepares to ease some of its coronavirus-related dealing restrictions. This coming Wednesday, restaurants, retailers, barbershops and salons in the state can reopen with certain qualifications and safety protocols in place.
“We’ll have two or three weeks, we’ll see whether people follow the social protocols,” Lamont communicated, noting face coverings at restaurants, for example, and enhanced sanitation. “If it looked like it was working pretty well, June 20 would be our next put a stop to and we’ll think about what we do from there.”