Covid-19 Update for the week of October 20, 2020

Governor Lamont announced that as of yesterday (Oct. 27, 2020) Connectcut’s infection rate is now 4.1%, which the governor says is striking but not “unexpected.” Numbers have been trending upward and the state has anticipated a second wave of the virus to occur this fall.

These escalating trends threaten to force towns to roll back gathering sizes and business access to Phase 2, however the governor hopes to take a more localized approach. At this point, Connecticut’s mayors and first selectmen have the ability to choose to start operating under Phase 2’s guidelines. Also, local school districts have been delaying their return to full-time in person learning or even opting to operate solely remotely.

Weekly update of the Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Alert Map: Nineteen municipalities in red

The Connecticut Department of Public Health released its weekly COVID-19 Alert Map, which indicates that 19 cities and towns in Connecticut are in the red zone.

The red zone indicates municipalities that have an average daily COVID-19 case rate over the last two weeks of greater than 15 per 100,000 population. The orange zone indicates those that have case rates between 10 to 14 cases per 100,000 population. The yellow zone indicates municipalities that have case rates between 5 and 9 per 100,000 population, and those indicated in gray have case rates lower than five per 100,000 population.

This week, the following municipalities are in the higher red-level alert category:

• Canterbury
• Danbury
• East Hartford*
• Fairfield*
• Griswold
• Groton*
• Hartford
• Lisbon*
• Montville
• New London
• Norwalk*
• Norwich
• Plainfield*
• Prospect*
• Salem*
• Sprague
• Waterford*
• Waterbury*
• Windham

*Newly added to the red-level alert list this week

The Department of Public Health will be working with individual cities and towns in the higher-alert levels, including their local health departments, to provide community resources and help make community-level decisions.

The weekly alert map is also accompanied by a chart that provides guidance on recommended actions based on the alert levels for individual residents; institutions such as schools, houses of worship, and community organizations; as well as municipal leaders and local health directors.

The COVID-19 Alert Map is updated every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. and can be found in the Data Tracker page of the state’s coronavirus website at ct.gov/coronavirus.

The Office of the Governor provided the following updates as of 4:00 p.m. TODAY Wednesday, October 28, 2020:

Data updates on testing in Connecticut

The following is a summary of the day-to-day newly reported data on cases, deaths, and tests in Connecticut.

County-by-county breakdown:

For several additional graphs and tables containing more data, including a list of cases in every municipality, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “COVID-19 Data Tracker.”

Connecticut CARES Small Business Grant Program announced

A new state grant program to help small businesses was announced this week. The program will provide businesses and nonprofits in Connecticut that have fewer than 20 employees or a 2019 payroll of less than $1.5 million with a one-time grant of $5,000. The application is expected to go live the week of November 9th.

More details:

• $50 million program, using Federal CARES Act dollars
• A one-time grant of $5,000 to eligible small businesses and non-profits
• Business must have twenty or fewer employees or have a total 2019 payroll of less than $1.5 million (annualized). FTE and payroll include affiliated companies
• $25 million will be reserved for businesses in distressed municipalities
• $25 million will be reserved for businesses in non-distressed municipalities
• Potentially 10,000 small businesses could be receiving grants by Dec 30, 2020 via this program

Learn more here.

Governor Lamont signs 76th executive order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19

Executive Order No. 9H enacts the following provisions:

• Remote participation in agency and municipal meetings: Permits state agencies and municipal boards, commissions, councils, and local legislative bodies to conduct business using “hybrid meetings,” wherein members of the public may attend in-person and others attend and participate remotely using video technology, and allows members of such bodies to attend remotely.
• Technical revisions to extension of eviction moratorium: Makes technical revisions to Executive Order No. 9E, Section 1, which extended the moratorium on residential evictions through January 1, 2021.

Weekly update to the regional travel advisory:  Arizona and Maryland added, no states removed

Gov. Lamont announced that the three states collaborating on the advisory list – Connecticut, New Jersey and New York – have agreed not to add each other to their respective lists.

Weekly Update to the Existing Travel Advisory:

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: Arizona and Maryland have been added to the list of impacted locations that meet the metrics to qualify, and no states or territories were removed from the list this week.

The requirement to quarantine applies to any person traveling into Connecticut from a state with a positive case rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10 percent test positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average. It also applies to any person arriving into Connecticut from a country for which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice.

Anyone arriving to Connecticut from any of the impacted locations is required to fill out a travel health form upon their arrival. The form can be filled out online at ct.gov/travelform.

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

1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. Colorado
6. Delaware
7. Florida
8. Georgia
9. Guam
10. Idaho
11. Illinois
12. Indiana
13. Iowa
14. Kansas
15. Kentucky
16. Louisiana
17. Maryland
18. Michigan
19. Minnesota
20. Mississippi
21. Missouri
22. Montana
23. Nebraska
24. Nevada
25. New Mexico
26. North Carolina
27. North Dakota
28. Ohio
29. Oklahoma
30. Puerto Rico
31. Rhode Island
32. South Carolina
33. South Dakota
34. Tennessee
35. Texas
36. Utah
37. Virginia
38. West Virginia
39. Wisconsin
40. Wyoming

For the most up-to-date information on the regional travel advisory, including an extensive list of frequently asked questions, visit ct.gov/Coronavirus/travel.

Weekly update on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes and assisted living facilities

The following documents contain the weekly data regarding each of the nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Connecticut that have reported positive cases of COVID-19 among their residents. The data is presented as it was reported to the state by each of the facilities. If a facility is not listed, that means it is reporting that it does not have any residents who have tested positive.

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