Governor Ned Lamont speaks to the press about the omicron variant following the signing of a lease for a partnership agreement for Union Station and State Street Station in New Haven on December 21, 2021.
Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut MediaSHELTON — The city has postponed its scheduled COVID-19 at-home test kit distribution Thursday.
Shipping delays prevented the at-home test kits from the arriving in the state as originally planned. The city, in a statement through email and its CodeRED system, alerted residents Thursday morning of the postponement.
"Today’s (Dec. 30) scheduled distribution in Shelton is canceled and will be rescheduled once the test kits are delivered,” the statement reads. “Updates will be provided on City’s social media pages and the City’s website.”
The city was supposed to receive some 8,000 at-home test kits Thursday for distribution the same day. But Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday those plans could have to change.
“Due to shipping and warehouse delays outside of the State of Connecticut’s control, our state’s anticipated shipment of COVID-19 at-home rapid tests are currently delayed from arriving in Connecticut,” Lamont stated.
Lamont stated that his staff and multiple state agencies have “spent the past several days working around the clock to accelerate the movement of our tests through what is clearly a shipping and distribution bottleneck on the West Coast amid unprecedented international demand for tests.”
Lamont on Monday announced plans to distribute 3 million of these tests and 6 million N95 masks in Connecticut to help curb the spread of the virus during this heavy travel and holiday season.
“Connecticut is currently experiencing another surge in COVID-19 cases that is being driven mostly by the highly transmissible Omicron variant,” Lamont said. “As a result, the demand for tests has outpaced the supply of testing available through our statewide network of about 400 sites.”
brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com