Press Releases

09/22/2021

Governor Lamont Provides Update on Connecticut’s Coronavirus Response Efforts

Latest Data as of 3:00PM on Wednesday, September 22, 2021

(HARTFORD, CT) – As the State of Connecticut continues taking actions in response to the global spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Governor Ned Lamont provided the following updates as of 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 22, 2021:

Data updates on testing in Connecticut

The following is a summary of the day-to-day newly reported data on cases and tests in Connecticut. It is important to note that these newly reported updates include data that occurred over the last several days to a week. All data in this report are preliminary, and data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected.

Data on COVID-19 associated deaths is updated once per week every Thursday. The most recently reported total number of deaths is 8,447.

County-by-county breakdown of current COVID-19 hospitalizations:

For a series of interactive graphs and maps that provide additional data, including metrics related to age, gender, and race/ethnicity, as well as data broken down by every town and city in Connecticut, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “Data Tracker.”

Pandemic EBT food benefits going to nearly 200,700 schoolchildren in Connecticut on September 26

The Connecticut Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the Connecticut State Department of Education, today announced that $75.2 million in special food assistance benefits will be distributed Sunday, September 26, 2021, to the families of nearly 200,700 schoolchildren in Connecticut who are eligible to receive free and reduced-price school meals and who receive services from the Department of Social Services.

This is the first distribution of food benefits that will go to a total of approximately 283,100 schoolchildren through the federal Summer Pandemic EBT: Children in School program. This program provides Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to families of children who were eligible to receive free and reduced-priced meals at their school as of the end of the 2020-2021 school year, and covers the summer period of July 2021 to August 2021. An additional distribution for approximately 82,400 children who do not receive services from the Department of Social Services is expected to be announced in October.

Specifically:

• The Department of Social Services is issuing benefits to the households of 200,700 children currently enrolled in SNAP, Temporary Family Assistance (TFA), or HUSKY Health/Medicaid, who were also receiving free and reduced priced meals in their school as of June 2021, regardless of learning model. The department will deposit Summer Pandemic EBT food benefits onto the existing EBT accounts on September 26, 2021. For nearly 4,000 families that previously did not receive a Pandemic EBT card, new EBT cards will be mailed on September 24, 2021, and will arrive with instructions on how to activate them and access the food benefits.
• The planned one-time additional benefit is $375 per child enrolled in the free and reduced-price meals program.
• To date, before the upcoming September 26 distribution, the Department of Social Services, in partnership with the State Department of Education, has provided more than $302.5 million in P-EBT benefits for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years to more than 290,000 public school students and 492 private school students who are eligible for the free or reduced-price meals program.
• Benefits can be used at any location that accepts SNAP/EBT cards. This includes farmers’ markets and direct market farms. In fact, enrollees can double the value of Pandemic EBT or other SNAP benefits at farmers’ markets participating in CT Fresh Match (more information on that program can be found at www.endhungerct.org/services/farmers-markets). Pandemic EBT participants will also have online access to eligible food purchases through delivery or curbside pickup at participating retailers Amazon, Aldi and Price Chopper/Market 32 via Instacart, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, Food Bazaar, ShopRite, Stop and Shop and Walmart.

For more information, visit www.ct.gov/snap.

Providing information to Connecticut residents

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus. Residents can also subscribe to text message alerts from the state by texting the keyword COVIDCT to 888-777.

Individuals who have general questions that are not answered on the website can call 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance. Anyone who is out-of-state or requires a toll-free number can connect to Connecticut 2-1-1 by dialing 1-800-203-1234. This is intended to be used by individuals who are not experiencing symptoms but may have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms are strongly urged to contact their medical provider.

Twitter: @GovNedLamont

Facebook: Office of Governor Ned Lamont

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