Governor Lamont Provides Update on Connecticut’s Coronavirus Response Efforts - January 19, 2023

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 Thursday, January 19, 2023:

Data updates on testing in Connecticut

The following is a summary of newly reported data on COVID-19 in Connecticut from the past 7 days.

To read the full data report, visit data.ct.gov/coronavirus and click the button labeled, “Data Report.” That website also contains several other data reports, including on the topics of vaccinations, schools, nursing homes, child care, congregate settings, and economic impact.

Data updates on vaccine administration in Connecticut

The following data was reported to the CT WiZ immunization information system as of January 17, 2023.

Total number of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19:

Percent of people with at least one dose by age group:

• >95% of those 65+
• >95% of those between 55-64
• 91% of those between 45-54
• 90% of those between 35-44
• 88% of those between 25-34
• 85% of those between 15-24
• 73% of those between 10-14
• 51% of those between 5-9
• 14% of those between 0-4

To locate a vaccination clinic in Connecticut, visit ct.gov/covidvaccine.

Data updates on breakthrough cases in Connecticut

The Connecticut Department of Public Health is reporting that as of January 4, 2023, a total of 315,585 cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut have been identified. Those cases account for 10.43% of the nearly 2.8 million people in the state who are fully vaccinated.

For more data on breakthrough cases in Connecticut, see pages 5 and 6 of this week’s extended COVID-19 data report.

Data updates on variants in Connecticut

The following data contains the cumulative number of SARS-CoV-2 variants that have been identified among Connecticut residents as of Jan 19, 2023:

• Omicron: 30,125 cases
• Delta: 17,235 cases
• Alpha: 2,525 cases
• Iota: 1,083 cases
• Other: 1,051 cases
• Gamma: 137 cases
• Mu: 84 cases
• Epsilon: 60 cases
• Lambda: 38 cases
• Beta: 23 cases
• Eta: 10 cases
• Kappa: 2 cases
• Zeta: 1 case

For more information on variants, see pages 7 and 8 of this week’s extended COVID-19 data report.

Connecticut’s SNAP-eligible households received additional emergency food benefits on Wednesday

The Connecticut Department of Social Services on Jan 19th, announced that it delivered more than $35.4 million in Emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to approximately 219,680 Connecticut households on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Additionally, the department is announcing that – pursuant to the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 – February of 2023 will be the final distribution of Emergency SNAP benefits.

Authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, this federal allocation provided a minimum of $95 in extra food aid to all enrolled families and individuals, raising the state’s total emergency SNAP funding to over $1 billion since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Specifically:

• All 219,860 SNAP-eligible households statewide will have received the emergency benefits on their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards by 5:00 p.m. on January 18, 2023.
• Households already eligible for the maximum monthly SNAP benefit will have received an extra $95.
• The remaining households that don’t usually qualify for the maximum monthly SNAP benefit because of income or other factors will have received extra benefits of at least $95 but averaging an estimated $156.77 (depending on their specific benefit situation).
• With this additional $35.4 million allocation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, emergency benefits are totaling over $1 billion in additional SNAP assistance statewide over 33 months, with commensurate spending at supermarkets, groceries, farmers markets, online, and other food retailers.
• The $95 increase results from President Biden’s January 22, 2021, executive order, which required the USDA to consider new guidance allowing states to increase SNAP emergency benefit allocations for all households, including those previously ineligible to receive it. This increase is expected to be ongoing, contingent on the continuation of the state and federal public health emergencies.
• All households also received their normal SNAP benefits, based on the new Thrifty Food Plan amounts, on one of the first three days of the month as they normally do, according to last name.
• If a household was granted regular SNAP benefits, or had a change made to their case, any day on or after Friday, January 6, 2023, the additional SNAP benefits will be added to the EBT card on the next Friday, depending on the date of granting.
• The recently signed federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 requires states to end the distribution of Emergency SNAP benefits after the February 2023 distributions. As a result, beginning in March 2023, Connecticut SNAP recipients will not see a second SNAP deposit mid-month.

In light of recent reports of skimming and phishing scams affecting EBT cardholders, the Department of Social Services continues to strongly recommend that clients change the PIN for their EBT cards periodically to prevent theft as especially before this deposit.

For additional information and resources regarding the ending of the Emergency SNAP benefits, visit www.ct.gov/snap/extracovidbenefits. For additional information regarding the SNAP program, 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.