Governor Lamont Provides Update on Connecticut’s Coronavirus Response Efforts

(HARTFORD, CT) – As the State of Connecticut continues taking actions in response to the global spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Governor Ned Lamont provided the following updates as of 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, 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. It is important to note that these newly reported updates include data that occurred over the last several days to a week. All data in this report are preliminary, and data for previous dates will be updated as new reports are received and data errors are corrected.

County-by-county breakdown of current COVID-19 hospitalizations:

For a series of interactive graphs and maps that provide additional data, including metrics related to age, gender, and race/ethnicity, as well as data broken down by every town and city in Connecticut, visit ct.gov/coronavirus and click the link that is labeled, “Data Tracker.”

**DATA REPORT SCHEDULE UPDATE: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the daily COVID-19 metrics will not be released on Thursday, November 26. Instead, data from that day’s report will be included in a combined report that will be released the following day on Friday, November 27.

Weekly update of the Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Alert Map: One hundred and fifty municipalities now in red

The Connecticut Department of Public Health today released its weekly COVID-19 Alert Map, which indicates that 150 cities and towns in Connecticut are now in the red zone alert level, the highest of the state’s four alert levels. They are:

• Andover
• Ansonia
• Avon*
• Barkhamsted*
• Beacon Falls
• Berlin
• Bethany
• Bethel
• Bethlehem
• Bloomfield
• Bolton*
• Bozrah
• Branford
• Bridgeport
• Bristol
• Brookfield
• Brooklyn
• Burlington
• Canterbury
• Canton*
• Chaplin
• Cheshire
• Chester
• Clinton
• Colchester
• Columbia*
• Coventry
• Cromwell
• Danbury
• Darien
• Deep River
• Derby
• Durham
• East Granby
• East Haddam
• East Hampton
• East Hartford
• East Haven
• East Lyme
• East Windsor
• Easton
• Ellington*
• Enfield
• Essex
• Fairfield
• Farmington
• Franklin
• Glastonbury
• Goshen
• Granby*
• Greenwich
• Griswold
• Groton
• Haddam
• Hamden
• Hampton
• Hartford
• Harwinton
• Hebron
• Kent
• Killingly
• Killingworth
• Lebanon
• Ledyard
• Lisbon
• Litchfield
• Madison
• Manchester
• Mansfield
• Marlborough
• Meriden
• Middlebury
• Middlefield
• Middletown
• Milford
• Monroe
• Montville
• Morris
• Naugatuck
• New Britain
• New Canaan
• New Fairfield
• New Hartford
• New Haven
• New London
• New Milford
• Newington
• Newtown
• North Branford
• North Canaan
• North Haven
• Norwalk
• Norwich
• Old Lyme
• Old Saybrook
• Orange
• Oxford
• Plainfield
• Plainville
• Plymouth
• Portland
• Prospect
• Putnam
• Redding
• Ridgefield
• Rocky Hill
• Salem
• Salisbury
• Seymour
• Shelton
• Sherman
• Simsbury*
• Somers
• South Windsor
• Southbury
• Southington
• Sprague
• Stamford
• Sterling
• Stonington
• Stratford
• Suffield
• Thomaston
• Thompson
• Tolland
• Torrington
• Trumbull
• Vernon
• Voluntown*
• Wallingford
• Washington
• Waterbury
• Waterford
• Watertown
• West Hartford
• West Haven
• Westbrook
• Weston
• Westport
• Wethersfield
• Willington
• Wilton
• Winchester*
• Windham
• Windsor
• Windsor Locks
• Wolcott
• Woodbridge
• Woodbury
• Woodstock

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

The towns of Ashford, Guilford, North Stonington, Pomfret, Preston, and Roxbury were in the red zone last week and have been downgraded to a lower alert level this week.

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.

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 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 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.

FEMA extends approval of non-congregate sheltering program through January 1

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved another 30-day extension of the non-congregate sheltering authorization under the FEMA Public Assistance program through January 1, 2021. This program, which was initially approved in March, provides non-congregate housing to certain high-risk individuals, including those who have COVID-19 or have been in contact with individuals who have the virus. It provides the state and its municipalities with a 75 percent reimbursement of all eligible costs associated with this housing. The program covers non-congregate housing for:

• Those at high risk of exposure in public service;
• Individuals in at-risk facilities, such as group homes, nursing homes, long-term care sites, and alternative care facilities;
• First responders and health care workers who have been exposed and cannot return home;
• Homeless individuals in congregate shelters; and
• Individuals in domestic violence shelters.

Connecticut’s implementation of this program has been highlighted as a best practice by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

Providing information to Connecticut residents

For the most up-to-date information from the State of Connecticut on COVID-19, residents are encouraged to visit ct.gov/coronavirus. Residents can also subscribe to text message alerts from the state by texting the keyword COVIDCT to 888-777.

Individuals who have general questions that are not answered on the website can call 2-1-1 for assistance. The hotline is available 24 hours a day and has multilingual assistance. Anyone who is out-of-state or requires a toll-free number can connect to Connecticut 2-1-1 by dialing 1-800-203-1234. This is intended to be used by individuals who are not experiencing symptoms but may have general questions related to COVID-19. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms are strongly urged to contact their medical provider.