The most pressing question facing the newly elected General Assembly is whether Gov. Ned Lamont's extraordinary executive authority arising from the COVID-19 public health and civil preparedness emergencies, which is now scheduled to expire on Feb. 10, should be extended.

Our answer is a strong "yes" — at least for the next six months — because the pandemic still engulfs our state. The public health threat to Connecticut residents from the COVID-19 pandemic, which justified the original assumption of these powers, persists. Our state is in the midst of another peaking wave of new infections, characterized by high levels of positivity rates, hospitalizations, deaths, school closures and other critical outcomes. Fully 162 of our 169 municipalities remain designated in the state's pandemic "red zone."