COVID-19 Updates 9/11

September 11, 2020

I hope you are continuing to stay strong because we will get through this together. Here is the latest on COVID-19 data, resources, and words of encouragement from local, national, and world leaders.

Local and National Data Updates
(Latest Data as of 4:00 PM on Friday, September 11, 2020)
 
  Confirmed Cases    Deaths    Tests Completed
Worldwide 28.6 Million 918,465  
U.S. 6.63 Million 197,272 90.8 Million
Connecticut   54,326 4,480 1.33 Million
Waterbury 2,369 193  

For several additional charts and tables containing more data groups, including a town-by-town breakdown of positive cases in each municipality and a breakdown of cases and deaths among age groups, click here.

Positivity for the Future

“Let’s keep a positive attitude in supporting our young children and adolescents who have returned to school. The world as we know it has been altered but we must keep our faith and continue moving forward. Remember to be kind and courteous to each other we never know what one’s going through at any given time!” - State Rep. Geraldo Reyes

 
Remembering 9/11

“Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11.” - President Barack Obama

Unemployment Benefits

Beginning next week, 250,000 unemployed workers in Connecticut will be eligible to receive another $300 a week as part of the federal disaster aid program.

Existing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claimants have already self-certified and do not need to do anything to receive the additional benefit.

New unemployment claimants and existing state and extended benefits claimants who are required to self-certify will be notified by letter or email that they are eligible and may self-certify when the program is open.

To self-certify:

  • Log into your unemployment account - the account main page offers a new option in the menu “Certify for Lost Wages Assistance.”
  • Once you have clicked on the button, a new screen will ask you to certify your unemployment or underemployment is due to COVID-19.
  • You may then then confirm submission and complete the process.

Federal eligibility guidelines include:

  • Recipients of at least $100 per week, including the dependency allowance, of any of the following benefits for the week they are seeking unemployment benefits;
  • Claimants receiving unemployment compensation, including state and federal workers and former service members, as well as those receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Extended Benefits, or High Extended Benefits;
  • Claimants who are part of the Shared Work Program; and
  • Workers with a Trade Readjustment Allowance.
The CT Department of Labor will continue to release updates as they become available on the CTDOL Federal Supplements webpage and send them directly to anyone who signs up for “Info to your Inbox” on the agency’s homepage.
SNAP Benefits

While the primary focus of Connecticut families for the past several months has been on health and safety, food insecurity has also been a major concern that cannot be ignored. With many still unemployed due to the pandemic, Emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have played a major role in keeping many Connecticut households from going hungry.

To that end, over $16.5 million in additional SNAP benefits will be provided to thousands of state SNAP recipients on Thursday, September 17.

More than 109,000 Connecticut households are not currently receiving the maximum allowable benefit for their household size. These emergency funds will allow eligible households to obtain the maximum allotment. See the chart below for the maximum benefit allotment for each household. (NOTE: For households that number nine or more, add $146 for each additional person.)

An average of $153 will be transferred to the EBT cards of eligible SNAP recipients on September 17.

For further information regarding SNAP, please click here.

Weekly update to the regional travel advisory: Four states added, two areas removed

The regional travel advisory between Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York that directs incoming travelers from states with a significant community spread of COVID-19 to self-quarantine for a 14-day period was updated this week and now includes Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia on the list of impacted locations. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been removed from the list.

The quarantine applies to any person traveling into Connecticut from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10 percent test positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

The list of impacted locations is updated once per week every Tuesday. The full list of impacted locations falling under the travel advisory includes:

  1. Alabama
  2. Alaska
  3. Arkansas
  4. California
  5. Delaware
  6. Florida
  7. Georgia
  8. Guam
  9. Hawaii
  10. Idaho
  11. Iowa
  12. Illinois
  13. Indiana
  14. Kansas
  15. Kentucky
  16. Louisiana
  17. Maryland
  18. Minnesota
  19. Missouri
  20. Mississippi
  21. Montana
  22. North Carolina
  23. North Dakota
  24. Nebraska
  25. Nevada
  26. Ohio
  27. Oklahoma
  28. South Carolina
  29. South Dakota
  30. Tennessee
  31. Texas
  32. Utah
  33. Virginia
  34. West Virginia
  35. Wisconsin
Anyone seeking the most up-to-date information on the regional travel advisory, including an extensive list of frequently asked questions, is encouraged to visit the state’s coronavirus website.