Kara Rochelle

April 22, 2020 was the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.

I’m proud to support legislation that promotes clean energy and clean energy jobs, fights polluters and pollutants, preserves and promotes our natural resources locally and in CT, and works to ensure we hand off to our children a sustainable environment with cleaner air and water.

During this time of social distancing, be sure to discover a new trail, lesser known state park, plant a garden, or support a local farm (check out local CSA programs!) this spring and summer. Make your life and our earth a little greener this year.

Below, I have included the following information:

• COVID-19 Daily Update
• Relief for Student Loan Borrowers

COVID-19 Daily Update

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Connecticut has a total of 22,469 positive COVID-19 cases. Day-to-day changes reflect newly reported cases, deaths, and tests that occurred over the last several days to week. Click the above image for a county-by-county breakdown of cases and to view additional data.

Today the Governor signed the 31st executive order, Executive Order No. 7DD, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which enacts the following provisions:

• Additions to the definition of telehealth provider
• Flexibility for Medicaid-enrolled providers and in-network providers for commercial fully insured health insurance to perform telehealth through additional methods
• Additions to permissible out-of-state healthcare providers
• Participation in intern, resident physician, or United States Medical Officer candidate training programs prior to permit issuance
• Participation in resident physician assistant program prior to permit issuance
• Temporary suspension of physician assistant supervision restrictions
• Temporary suspension of in-person supervision requirement for advanced practice registered nurses
• Provision of services by respiratory care therapist and respiratory care technician students
• Suspension of continuing education requirement for health care providers
• Modification of 36-month age limit for Birth-to-Three services

Click here to read the full executive order.

Connecticut Begins Discussions for Regional Contact Tracing Strategy

Wednesday the Lamont administration announced it has initiated discussions with the governors of New York and New Jersey to establish a regional contact tracing strategy that complements existing staff, volunteers, processes, and technology.

Connecticut DOL Unemployment Claims Update

The state Department of Labor has processed over 320,000 of the 397,000 unemployment claims it has received since March 13. 

Prior to a software improvement that was implemented last week, the processing time was about 6 weeks. With the new technology enhancements, processing times have been reduced to about 3 weeks and the department is on target to further reduce processing time to 1 week. 

Benefits will be retroactive to the date a person needed to apply. Unemployment claim filers are urged to select direct deposit to receive their benefits quicker.

The CTDOL has a helpful FAQ page for individuals who may need assistance applying for benefits. The page is updated daily. Click here to read it.

Thousands of Residents Using How We Feel App

Since the How We Feel App's recent launch, 32,429 Connecticut residents have used the app to report anonymous data to medical institutions so scientists and public health officials can better spot emerging outbreaks, identify new at-risk populations, and measure the efficacy of public health measures. 

Download the app for free on the Apple Store and Google Play Store. Users can self-report their health information on the web at howwefeel.app. Read more here.

Connecticut Receives $2 Million Federal Grant for Mental Health Services

The State of Connecticut has been awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to address behavioral health care needs of specific populations that have been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The grant, awarded to the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, will support service needs over the next year and a half, primarily focusing on the needs of those with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, youth with severe emotional disturbances and their families, individuals with less severe mental health conditions, and healthcare practitioners. 

DMHAS is working collaboratively with the Department of Corrections and the Department of Children and Families to use the funding to launch the Connecticut COVID-19 Behavioral Health Response and Assistance (Connecticut COBHRA) initiative. 

The grant will support a number of activities focused on improving health outcomes of those affected by COVID-19 including:

• Purchasing telehealth equipment for DMHAS providers and DOC health care practitioners;
• Enhancing eight DMHAS-funded mobile crisis teams with additional clinicians;
• Providing staffing to a new statewide call center for adult crisis calls at United Way 2-1-1; and
• Expanding the DCF Family Based Recovery services for youth and their families.

It will also increase services for victim-survivors of intimate partner violence and support the behavioral health needs of health care practitioners. A final component of the grant will provide support to employee assistance programs at DMHAS-funded agencies.

Read Wednesday's full news update here.

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, including an FAQ and other guidance and resources, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus.

Individuals who have general questions that are not answered on the website can also call 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance and TDD/TTY access. It intended to be used by individuals who are not experiencing symptoms but may have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone experiencing symptoms is strongly urged to contact their medical provider.

Read all of the emergency orders issued by the Governor and state agencies here. You can watch the Governor's daily news briefings here, and read the news updates here.

Relief for Student Loan Borrowers

Student Loan borrowers with federal loans not owned by the federal government or private loans who are struggling to make their payments because of COVID-19 are getting some relief.

The State of Connecticut has announced that payments will go into ‘forbearance’ for 90 days – with interest put on hold and no negative credit reporting. For borrowers, this is a life line during this difficult time.

Borrowers should contact their student loan service to identify the appropriate relief options. 

To learn more, visit CT’s Department of Banking website at www.ct.gov/dob.