Update: April 20 8:00 p.m. – State Response to Coronavirus

Friends and Neighbors,

In a press release and during his daily press conference, Governor Lamont this evening announced that the Department of Social Services delivered a second round of SNAP emergency food benefits to nearly 108,000 Connecticut households today, and the Connecticut Office of the Arts – a state office housed within the Department of Economic and Community Development – created two grant programs to help local artists negatively impacted by COVID-19.

He also announced the state is partnering with the developers of the How We Feel app in an effort to anonymously provide scientists with critical health information needed to understand the spread of COVID-19.

To watch the full video of the governor’s afternoon press conference, please click here:

SNAP participants receive second round of emergency food benefits today

The Connecticut Department of Social Services today announced that the second round of emergency food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were delivered to nearly 108,000 households today. Authorized by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the extra food benefits are being distributed to those households that are not currently receiving the maximum SNAP benefits allowed for their household size. This means that all households in SNAP are receiving the maximum food benefit allowable for their household size, even if they aren’t usually eligible for the maximum benefit.

The first round of emergency SNAP benefits were delivered to households on April 9. For more information, visit www.ct.gov/snap.

Connecticut Office of the Arts announces grants available for Connecticut artists impacted by pandemic

Recognizing that artists provide inspiration, connection, and education, particularly at times when the creative sector is needed most, the Connecticut Office of the Arts – a state office housed within the Department of Economic and Community Development – today announced that two grant programs have been created to help local artists negatively impacted by COVID-19:

• The Connecticut Artists Relief Grant program will provide $500 grants to over 100 individual artists and teaching artists who live in the state and whose creative practices and income are being adversely impacted by the safety measures put into place to prevent the spread of the virus. The grant is partly funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts.
• The Connecticut Artists Respond Grant program helps artists translate and present their art virtually. Individual or collaborative artists who create or have created projects that respond to the needs of the times by presenting art activities, classes, or other creative experiences online at no cost to the public will be eligible for $1,000 or $2,000, respectively.

Applications will be accepted for both programs through May 4, 2020. For specific questions, artists should contact Tamara Dimitri at tamara.dimitri@ct.gov and teaching artists should contact Bonnie Koba at bonnie.koba@ct.gov.

The governor’s full press release can be read here: https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2020/04-2020/Governor-Lamont-Coronavirus-Update-April-20

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Governor Lamont Encourages Connecticut Residents to Use the ‘How We Feel’ App to Improve COVID-19 Response

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that the State of Connecticut is partnering with the developers of the How We Feel app in an effort to anonymously provide scientists with critical health information needed to understand the spread of COVID-19. Available to download for free in the Apple App Store and the Google Play store, it is supported by a nonprofit organization and does not require logging in or the sharing of any personal details, such as name or email address. In addition to being available to download to mobile devices, users can also complete the survey through a web version available at howwefeel.app.

The How We Feel app was developed by leading health experts from several institutions, including Harvard University, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Weizmann Institute of Science. It was created in response to the need for health officials and doctors to obtain more information on COVID-19 in the face of widespread testing shortages. It only takes users about 30 seconds each day to report any symptoms they may be experiencing, and the information shared has the potential to reveal outbreak hotspots and provide insight into the progression of COVID-19.

People in Connecticut – whether they are healthy or sick – can help this research by using the app and self-reporting their daily symptoms through a series of short prompts about how they’re feeling, and share that data with scientists in real time. Aggregate data is securely shared with leading medical institutions so scientists and public health professionals can better spot emerging outbreaks early, identify new populations who are at risks, and measure the efficacy of public health measures such as social distancing.

Getting this data to the medical community as quickly as possible enables them to make faster decisions to help slow or contain the virus. When they have a better idea of who is sick, how sick they are, and where they are, there’s the potential to increase testing, deploy additional resources, and ultimately save lives.

More information is in the full release here: https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2020/04-2020/Governor-Lamont-Encourages-Connecticut-Residents-to-Use-the-How-We-Feel-App

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Commissioner Issues Guidance to CT Financial Institutions

The commissioner of the Dept. of Banking today released a statement urging Connecticut state-chartered financial institutions not to use stimulus checks to pay offset outstanding debts owed to them by their members.

The guidance is in keeping with the intent of the stimulus program that the money be used to meet the basic needs of residents.

More information can be found here: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DOB/Financial-Institutions-Division/2020-04-16-Industry-Letter-Access-to-Stimulus-Funds.pdf

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FDA Tracks Medication Supply

The FDA set up a resource page that allows patients concerned about a shortage of prescribed medication to track certain drug availability or shortages.

That site is here: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/drug-shortages

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As of 4:00 p.m. tonight – Monday, April 20th – the state has diagnosed a total of 19815 cases of Coronavirus. Updated virus totals and Town-by-Town statistics can be accessed here: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus

The total statewide number of COVID-19 associated fatalities is 1331.

Latest COVID-19 Testing Data in Connecticut

Updated 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 20, 2020

Total patients who tested positive: 19815

Fairfield County: 8320

Hartford County: 3823

Litchfield County: 639

Middlesex County: 484

New Haven County: 5272

New London County: 356

Tolland County: 299

Windham County: 108

Pending address validation: 514