As of today, Thursday, April 9, there are 9,784 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Connecticut (up 1,003 from Wednesday), 1,464 hospitalized (up 46), and 380 deaths (up 45). Connecticut has performed 33,502 tests so far–about 29% of all tests are coming back positive.
For a town-by-town breakdown and other COVID-19 statistics, please visit: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus
PPE Donations
Connecticut leaders continue to seek donations of personal protective equipment from people, businesses and organizations for use in hospitals and long-term care facilities. Incredibly, Connecticut has so far risen to this challenge, with more than 2,000 offers to donate already made by groups and individuals, but demand remains high. If you have personal protective equipment to donate, please visit this link.
Recovery Centers
The state’s long-term care facilities will collaborate with the state on a “medical surge plan” that will establish COVID-19 recovery centers in nursing homes. These locations will accept patients who are well enough to be discharged from acute care hospitals but are still recovering from the effects of COVID-19. This action will protect residents of nursing homes and sequester potentially infectious individuals in safe environments where they can receive medical care. At least 500 new beds will be available in Torrington, Bridgeport, Meriden and Sharon in addition to more than 2,000 currently available ones.
Unemployment Update
The Connecticut Department of Labor has provided more than $35 million in benefits payments to more than 100,000 claimants as of April 4, working to meet the demands of the more than 300,000 unemployment claims filed since March 13. The DOL has processed approximately 133,000 of over 302,000 applications. The $35 million figure is more than double what was provided in the previous week. While there is a six-week backlog, Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby said staff is working long hours to accommodate applicants and federal programs providing further unemployment benefits. All eligible claims will be processed, paid and retroactive to the date they were filed. While there have been delays in claim processing, that is a national trend due to the unprecedented changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unemployed residents who have not yet filed for unemployment should visit www.filectui.com, and click a message reading “For quicker payment of unemployment benefits, please follow these instructions.” That link leads to a guide that will ensure they file the claim in a manner that will speed up claim processing.
Work From Home Scams
With many people working from home, the state Department of Consumer Protection, the Better Business Bureau Serving Connecticut and Attorney General William Tong are warning families about work from home scams targeting vulnerable workers.
These scams often involve individuals re-shipping packages received from others, “inspecting” and re-shipping them, and never receiving compensation for them. The items are often purchased with stolen funds, putting victims in potential legal trouble and possibly exposing them to fraud and identity theft.
If an offer is too good to be true, it probably is. Offers of large amounts of money are likely scams and no legitimate company will charge money to apply for a job or to begin work. Research a company if you have questions about their practices – if they are a scam, search history will indicate it.
