$300,000-Plus In Grants Earmarked For Manchester Health District

MANCHESTER, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont Wednesday announced that Manchester is one of the first 21 local health districts and departments receiving a portion of $20 million in funding that is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Cooperative Agreement.

Under the agreement, the funding is intended to be used by the local health districts and departments to:

• Enhance laboratory detection, surveillance (contact tracing), response, informatics, and other workforce capacity
• Strengthen laboratory testing volume and capacity;
• Coordinate and engage with partners as needed to respond to and prevent COVID-19
• Prevent and minimize disease transmission of COVID-19
• Conduct health promotion activities associated with each of the previously mentioned activities
• "Ensuring the availability of these resources at the local level is critical to our response efforts, Governor Lamont said. "We know that our municipalities, health districts, and local service organizations know their communities best. I’m pleased we’ve been able to engage them in the community resource coordinator program and allocate funding to support them in combating COVID-19. Everyone in Connecticut should know that it’s safe to get tested – and if you need to stay home, we can support you, and our contact tracers are an important part of getting you what you need."

Added Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, "The best way to address the COVID-19 pandemic is neighborhood-by-neighborhood. Whether you’ve tested positive for COVID-19 or were in contact with someone who was, we are doing everything we can to make sure our contact tracers and community resource coordinators know your community and can address your needs as soon as possible."

Contact tracing is one of the most important pieces of a response to the coronavirus pandemic, Connecticut Public Health Acting Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford said.

The funding is being administered by the Connecticut Department of Public Health and will be distributed to each local health district and department over the course of three years:

• Year 1 : May 19, 2020 to May 17, 2021
• Year 2: May 18, 2021 to May 17, 2022
• Year 3: May 18, 2022 to November 17, 2022

All of Connecticut’s 65 local health districts and departments will receive a portion of the $20 million based on per-capita and poverty levels for each jurisdiction. The first 21 health districts that have been approved include Manchester, which is to receive $127,278 in Year 1 and a total of $318,196.