Feds to reimburse CT prisons $3.7M for COVID testing

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the State of Connecticut with these costs. Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation.”

FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich

Connecticut prisons will receive close to $3.7 million in reimbursement from the federal government for the costs of running community COVID-19 testing sites during the pandemic, federal officials said Tuesday.

The state Department of Correction will receive $3,669,857 through a Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance grant for running three testing sites between March and November of 2020.

FEMA said the state agency acquired tents, heating, furniture and other infrastructure along with hundreds of thousands of test kits.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the State of Connecticut with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich, in a statement. “Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation.”

So far the federal agency has reimbursed the state some $416 million through the grants for expenses related to the pandemic.

As the summer rolls into full swing, public health officials have recently advised families to get tested for the virus more often.

The state has more than a dozen free COVID testing sites, many of which don’t require appointments. Yale New Haven Health also has testing available, but patients need to schedule appointments in advance.

On Tuesday, the state reported 3,396 positive tests — not including results from at-home tests — of 44,116 tests administered in the past week. The seven-day positivity rate stood at around 7.7 percent Tuesday, about the same as last Tuesday’s 7.69 percent, according to data from the state Department of Public Health.

There were 259 patients hospitalized with the virus Tuesday — 23 fewer than last Tuesday, but 13 more than Monday. Of the 259 patients Tuesday, 86 — or about a third — were not fully vaccinated, state data shows.