CT Gets Influx Of Fed Cash As Coronavirus Cases, Deaths Climb
CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont announced a major influx of pandemic-targeted cash from the federal government on Wednesday, as well as a day when coronavirus deaths and cases continued to climb.
Total COVID-19 cases were up 416 statewide, according to the latest report from the state Department of Health, and eight more deaths were tallied.
DPH Acting Commissioner Deidre Gifford said the state's health officials were not surprised by, but were instead prepared for, the current spike in infection rates statewide, as it was predicted by their modelling. "We do need individuals to take a second look at the mask wearing, the distancing, the social gathering," she said.
Gifford and Lamont made their remarks during a news conference in Manchester Wednesday.
The "really significant chunk of funding," as Lamont described it during a news conference in Manchester, has been allocated as part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Cooperative Agreement. It is intended to be used by the local public health professionals to strengthen laboratory testing volume and capacity, and hire workers for contact tracing, response and informatics.
It will also come in handy for the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccines.
"We are going to have 4 or 5 different vaccines coming out," the governor announced. "Each with different protocols." Some of those protocols involve the number of times they must be administered or the temperatures at which they must be stored.
"This is going to be an incredibly complicated process," Lamont said, "to explain to people what we are doing, why were doing it, how we prioritize that."
Gifford is heading up a team of scientists as well as community activists to manage the operation, according to Lamont.
"We need our local departments of public health to enforce the rules we've got, give people confidence that we are doing this for the right reasons," Lamont said.
The DPH is encouraging any health district that hasn't applied to reach out to them and file their application as soon as possible.
See also: Child Forced To Sleep In Locked Closet For Months: PD
The funding is being administered by the Connecticut Department of Public Health and will be distributed to each local health district and department over the course of three years:
Year one: May 19, 2020 to May 17, 2021
Year two: May 18, 2021 to May 17, 2022
Year three: May 18, 2022 to Nov. 17, 2022
All of Connecticut’s 65 local health districts and departments will receive a portion of the $20 million based on per capita and poverty levels for each jurisdiction. The first 21 health districts that have been approved include:
Bridgeport – Year one: $510,243; Total: $1,275,606
Brookfield – Year one: $26,348; Total: $65,870
Cromwell – Year one: $22,513; Total: $56,283
Durham – Year one: $11,786; Total: $29,466
East Hartford – Year one: $136,449; Total: $341,123
Eastern Highlands Health District – Year one: $153,795; Total: $384,489
Glastonbury – Year one: $53,815; Total: $134,538
Guilford – Year one: $34,550; Total: $86,376
Ledge Light Health District – Year one: $344,683; Total: $861,707
Manchester – Year one: $127,278; Total: $318,196
Meriden – Year one: $145,939; Total: $364,847
New Britain – Year one: $258,350; Total: $645,876
New Canaan – Year one: $29,530; Total: $73,825
Orange – Year one: $21,059; Total: $52,647
Pomperaug Health District – Year one: $70,176; Total: $175,441
Ridgefield – Year one: $33,326; Total: $83,314
Somers – Year one: $14,483; Total: $36,208
Uncas Health District – Year one: $223,845; Total: $559,611
Waterbury – Year one: $403,187; Total: $1,007,967
West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District – Year one: $162,458; Total: $406,145
Windsor – Year one: $42,486; Total: $106,214
See also: Here Is Who Bought the Former LEGO Building
This article originally appeared on the Across Connecticut Patch