Update Senator Anwar 5/12/2020

For a town-by-town breakdown and other COVID-19 statistics, please visit: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus

State Receives 6.7 Million Pieces of PPE In One Shipment
The state has received a massive shipment of up to 6.7 million pieces of personal protective equipment in the fight against COVID-19. The equipment, delivered over the last few days to the state’s commodities warehouse in New Britain, includes:

• Six million surgical masks
• 500,000 protective masks
• 100,000 surgical gowns
• 100,000 temporal thermometers

Once sorted, the PPE will be delivered to frontline workers, including first responders, hospital staff, long-term care facility staff, direct providers and others fighting COVID every day.

Distribution of PPE has been managed by several state agencies and distributed by the Connecticut National Guard. As of May 11, the state has delivered more than 15 million pieces of PPE to those in need, including more than 5.8 million surgical masks, 956,000 KN95 masks and 326,656 N95 masks, 448,435 face shields, 40,587 surgical gowns, 51,248 pairs of Tyvek coveralls and more than 7.5 million pairs of gloves. Any entity seeking to partner with the state on acquiring PPE can fill out this form on the state’s website.

Free Face Coverings For Essential Small Businesses With Fewer Than 50 Employees
The state is distributing free face coverings to essential small businesses with fewer than 50 employees through a partnership with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and CONNSTEP. Eligible essential small businesses can request up to two free face coverings per employee by filling out a form available at ctcovidresponse.org.

Updated Nursing Home Visitor Restrictions
The state has updated restrictions on visitation for nursing home residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with new standards recognizing the need for residents to hear from loved ones. As of May 9, facilities are now asked to facilitate practical alternatives for communication between residents and their family and other individuals, which can include but not be limited to window visits, virtual visits through digital platforms like FaceTime or Zoom or phone calls; those visits must occur at least weekly. Facilities will contact residents’ family, conservators or legal representatives to establish how visits will be provided; they will be for at least 20 minutes. Perimeter visits, like visiting through a window or social distancing outside, should be planned to preserve facility safety. Facility staff is asked to assist residents in how to use these solutions and family members in scheduling them. Facilities without the capacity to provide alternatives for visiting are asked to work with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program to find other solutions.

Connecticut Wants to Test Nursing Home Residents and Staff for Coronavirus by June
New encouragement from the White House is prompting Connecticut Health officials to protect those in nursing homes from the coronavirus outbreak. The federal government is recommending all nursing home staff and residents to be tested for coronavirus over the next two weeks. Health officials in the state want the testing at all 215 nursing homes in Connecticut to be done by June. Data released last Thursday shows COVID-19-related deaths among nursing home residents make up nearly 60 percent of the total deaths in the state. By testing every single resident and staff member for COVID-19, this could help slow the spread of the Coronavirus.

Remdesivir Arrives In Hospitals
This weekend, the Department of Public Health distributed Connecticut’s first allotment of Remdesivir to acute care hospitals. The medication has shown promise in reducing hospitalization time in the event of severe cases of COVID-19, recently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. The state has received 1,200 doses as of this weekend and leaders are working to secure more doses for the state; the drug’s producer has committed to supplying more than 600,000 vials of the medication over the next six weeks.

Department of Labor Update
The state Department of Labor continues to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting this week that it has processed more than 450,000 of a total 501,735 unemployment applications received since March. That represents more than three years of application activity in two months. Most claims will be processed in one to two weeks, heavily reduced from a peak of six weeks. The state so far has issued more than $511 million in unemployment benefits. Additionally, the state began administering Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation to eligible claimants with weekly state benefit, which are continuing to be added to every payment; more than $755 million has been issued. For information on state and pandemic-related unemployment insurance and federal stimulus, please visit this link; for guidance on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, please visit here for a table of contents and visit here for comprehensive filing instructions.

AARP To Hold National Tele-Hown Hall Thursday on COVID-19 and The Military
This Thursday, May 14 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., AARP will hold a nationwide tele-town hall focused on veterans, military families and COVID-19, with topics to be discussed including accessing benefits and health services through the VA or other health care providers, caring for loved ones including coordinating supports, backup care and staying connected to those in long-term care systems; understanding and managing income and finances in the midst of the pandemic; and providing resources to help cope, including tips on managing well-being, managing stress and anxiety, and other adverse effects of physical distancing. To hear the call, please call 855-274-9507 on Thursday.

Modifications For August Primaries
A new executive order makes modifications to the petitioning process for the August primary for minor parties, unaffiliated petitioning candidates and major party candidates who fail to receive 15 percent of the vote at a major convention but still wish to run in the August primary. Under the new rules, candidates will need to receive 30 percent fewer signatures from members of the public, will have two additional days to submit a petition and permits individuals to sign and mail, or email, petitions to candidates containing their signature provided they meet all required representations under state law. This is aimed to make the election process fair amid the pandemic.

State and Nonprofit Partners Expand Volunteer Recruitment Efforts for COVID-19 Response
The State of Connecticut and its nonprofit partners are continuing to seek volunteers willing to help communities respond to the COVID-10 crisis. The state’s volunteer recruitment effort is being expanded to bolster the ranks of volunteers needed at nonprofits that offer support to children and adults in programs for intellectual disabilities and behavioral health settings, as well as organizations that support senior citizens.

To date, more than 5,000 medical volunteers and 1,600 non-medical volunteers have come forward to assist Connecticut’s hospitals and health systems, and also provide support to nonprofits that provide essential human services. Volunteers have helped distribute food with food banks, provided support for those experiencing homelessness in shelters across the state, and delivered meals to homebound senior citizens in communities across Connecticut.

How to volunteer:

Anyone interested in volunteering to help their communities in this effort can sign up by visiting www.ct.gov/coronavirus and clicking the “Volunteers” link. Those interested will be matched with a community provider in need based on their personal interests and abilities.
Volunteers must be 18 or older and should not volunteer if at risk or compromised. Those who are immunocompromised, over 60, showing symptoms of COVID-19, or live with or care for someone in any of those categories should avoid being in public, including for volunteer efforts. Please stay safe, stay home.

Volunteers do not need to be health care workers. In addition to calling on physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals who may be retired, the state needs community members to help out at food banks, food deliveries to the elderly, and at shelters in a number of ways.

Every effort is being made to keep volunteers safe. The state and all of the organizations involved are working hard to make sure that everyone helping out can do so as safely as possible. If any volunteers have concerns, they are strongly urged to ask about the safety protocols of the organization they are volunteering.

Volunteers will be sent where they are most needed and feel most comfortable. The volunteer process is centralized so that the state and participating organizations have a clear picture of everyone who can help, and everything that is needed. That way, volunteers can be matched with an opportunity that is most in need of that person’s skillset.

Congratulations to 2020 College Graduates
While ceremonies likely took place on platforms like Zoom and FaceTime rather than in big gatherings, this weekend saw the graduation of many 2020 college students, an event that should be recognized. As graduates prepare to move on to the next steps of their lives, I would like to congratulate them for their hard work and their dedication, as well as their flexibility and willingness to adapt considering the current circumstances. Congratulations on your success; the future is bright.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis Response
After last summer and fall’s significant outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis, or “EEE,” state legislators pushed for a stronger response in the future to mitigate the potentially deadly mosquito-carried disease. I am pleased to provide a compelling update on the state’s response. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, in connection with the Governor’s Office and the Office of Policy and Management, has established a plan to expand mosquito testing and trapping to 15 new sites in Eastern Connecticut this upcoming summer, with new trapping sites selected based on EEE activity in 2019. I am excited about this development and will share more details as they become available.