At least two, possibly three additional Newtown residents have succumbed to COVID-19 over the past week as local case numbers swelled to 688 — more than 80 in just a week according to state Department of Public Health (DPH) data.

Health District Director Donna Culbert told The Newtown Bee Thursday morning that she was notified of at least two new fatalities in recent days, but as in past reports there are often time lag discrepancies between public data provided by the DPH and information that comes to Culbert from that agency.

Earlier this week, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal asked Culbert to visit virtually with the Board of Selectmen to update the officials directly. During that report, Rosenthal also revealed that several town employees had either tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering quarantines, or that there had been enough suspicion of contact that a number of town staffers were unable to report to work.

“We have had issues, and all employees have recovered,” the first selectman said, adding that numerous quarantines are impacting the town’s ability to staff certain departments, without being specific about which offices were shorthanded.

He said as case numbers began escalating, he has been in regular contact with Culbert, typically touching base more than once daily, seven days a week.

“My utmost concern is health and safety of the community,” Rosenthal told Selectman Jeff Capeci and Selectman Maureen Crick Owen. “Our Achilles heel is small local gatherings — casually inside or out — creating the biggest issue.”

Besides absences in the municipal and school district operations, Culbert said she is seeing issues of workforce diminishing in town, causing closures, short- or long-term. She said it will probably be a few more months before better community immunity begins to take effect.

“We’re seeing impact of Thanksgiving now,” Culbert said, as small numbers of visitors mixed over the holiday weekend with family members they do not live with.

“It’s our nature to be together, but it’s not time to do that,” Culbert said, as her office and small staff continue to deal with an average of ten new cases a day, including multiple cases in same household.

“All we can do is try and help people make good decisions — and to find ways to protect themselves and people around them,” she said. Culbert told selectmen that her department is continuing to handle its non-virus day-to-day business, and is anticipating working very quickly on vaccine distributions once they begin to arrive in Connecticut.

As of December 9, the total of COVID-19 cases reported among Connecticut residents was 140,548, including 131,886 laboratory-confirmed and 8,662 probable cases; 1,262 patients were currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and 5,285 COVID-19-associated deaths had been recorded.

SNAP, Vaccines, Travel Info

That day, Governor Ned Lamont reported that the Connecticut Department of Social Services will provide $16.9 million in Emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) benefits to more than half of Connecticut SNAP-eligible households on Wednesday, December 16 — adding to the $157.2 million in emergency benefits disbursed in April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and November.

Authorized by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the extra food benefits will go to approximately 112,000 households not currently receiving the maximum benefits allowed for their household size. This means that all households enrolled in SNAP will receive the maximum food benefit allowable for their household size, even if they are not usually eligible for the maximum benefit.

The average emergency benefit amount a household will see on its electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card on December 16 is $154. All participating households also received their normal SNAP benefits on the first three days of each month they normally do, according to last name.

If a household is granted regular SNAP benefits on or after December 16 and is also eligible for the emergency supplemental benefits, the latter benefits will be added to the EBT card on a Friday, depending on the date of granting.

One day earlier, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais reminded state insurers that there should be no out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19 vaccines for all Affordable Care Act-compliant, fully insured plans and all self-funded plans.

“Along with all fully insured plans, employer-based plan sponsors must remove all cost-sharing for COVID-19 vaccines for their workers and their families, and anyone without insurance is also eligible for no-cost COVID-19 vaccines,” Mais said. “I urge all grandfathered and non-ACA compliant health insurance plans to follow suit and remove financial barriers to COVID-19 vaccines for individuals, workers, and their families.”

The Connecticut Insurance Department today issued a notice to all health carries regarding the guidelines.

Connecticut’s travel advisory, which directs incoming travelers from states and territories with a significant community spread of COVID-19 to self-quarantine for a 14-day period, is remaining the same this week, as no locations are being added or removed. The requirement to quarantine applies to any person traveling into Connecticut from one of the impacted locations.

Impacted locations include those — other than the neighboring states of New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — that have a positive case rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or higher than a ten percent test positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, and countries for which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice.

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

On December 7, Lamont signed Executive Order No. 9Q enacting the following provisions:

Administration of COVID-19 vaccine by licensed pharmacists: Authorizes licensed pharmacists to administer any coronavirus vaccine that has been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration under certain conditions, as well as administer influenza vaccines to children aged 10 to 17.

Reporting of influenza vaccine administration to patients younger than 18: Requires any pharmacist who administers an influenza vaccine to any patient under the age of 18 and obtains the vaccine through the Connecticut Vaccine Program to electronically report the information about the administration of the vaccine to the Department of Public Health’s immunization registry.

Out-of-network COVID-19 immunization: Caps the amount that providers may charge to administer COVID-19 vaccines, to ensure that no one is required to pay out-of-pocket costs for the vaccine.

And on December 4 Lamont signed Executive Order No. 9P enacting the following provisions:

Increase in weekly benefit amount and qualification for Lost Wages Assistance: Expands eligibility for Connecticut residents in the federal Lost Wages Assistance program, enabling those who previously did not meet the eligibility requirements to receive $100 in weekly unemployment benefits that would make them eligible.

Remote licensing examination for subsurface sewage disposal system cleaner and installer: Modifies certain state statutes to permit the Department of Public Health to hold only two of the four required licensing examinations for subsurface sewage disposal system cleaner and installers, and to conduct examinations remotely.

Lost Wages Assistance

Executive Order 9P expands eligibility to the federal Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program for Connecticut residents who did not initially qualify for the program. Due to a federal rule requiring claimants receive at least $100 per week in unemployment benefits to receive the additional LWA funding, approximately 38,000 residents were excluded from the program when it ran over six weeks late last summer.

Lamont’s executive order will retroactively and temporarily increase weekly unemployment benefits to $100 for most of these 38,000 residents, allowing them to qualify for the program.

To date, Connecticut has disbursed more than $5.6 billion in unemployment funding and another $327 million in Lost Wages Assistance to workers, the governor said.

LWA was in effect from July 26 through September 5 and offered $300 in additional weekly funding to claimants who were unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and who had a minimum weekly benefit of $100 or more. Expanding access to the program will cost the UI Trust Fund an average of $43 per week per claimant. That “plus up” from the state will bring in approximately $55 million in Lost Wages Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency — a seven-to-one federal match.

That money is expected to generate $115 million of economic activity and provide small businesses across the state with a much-needed boost in consumer spending.

Connecticut Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby is urging claimants who did not receive LWA over the summer to check their mail and e-mail for instructions and apply. In order to receive the LWA benefits, claimants must certify that they were unemployed due to COVID for the weeks covered by Lost Wages Assistance.

Information and instructions by mail and e-mail were being sent directly from the Connecticut Department of Labor starting December 7. LWA benefits and the supplemental state payments are taxable income.

For example, if a claimant has a weekly benefit amount of $60, they will receive six payments of $40 to their account. They do not have to apply for these funds. That “plus up” will allow them to then qualify for the LWA program.

They must certify that they were unemployed for any (or all) of the six weeks of the Lost Wages Assistance program. A few days after they complete the certification, they will see up to six additional deposits (one per eligible week), each for $300, in their account.

The executive order will also relieve reimbursing employers from charges for the additional funds needed to get claimants to the $100 threshold. Contributing employers have already been relieved of charges under the governor’s Executive Order No. 7W.

The Connecticut Department of Labor has information and instructions on its federal supplements web page and will notify customers directly through e-mail and mail. The agency reminds customers that, as part of fraud prevention practices, it will never ask for personal identifying information like user name, password, or Social Security number in an e-mail.

Additionally, the state agency does not send any link by e-mail that requires a user name or password. Claimants are urged to call the agency’s contact center with any questions.