Government House briefing covered COVID-19 data, second round of P-EBT benefits and retiree Medicare plan

Government House said on September 29, 2020, that the Virgin Islands was tracking 81 active COVID-19 cases, with 20,167 people tested, 1,317 positive results, 1,217 recoveries and 20 deaths.

Officials said no COVID-19 patients were hospitalized at Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix. Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas had four COVID-19 patients hospitalized, including one on a ventilator.

At the briefing, Human Services Commissioner Kimberley Causey-Gomez said the Department of Human Services had received approval for a second round of Pandemic-EBT benefits totaling $1,513,308. She said benefit amounts would vary by school based on the number of days of virtual instruction, and students attending schools with in-person instruction would not receive P-EBT under federal guidelines.

Causey-Gomez said existing eligible SNAP recipients would receive the added benefits on their current SNAP cards, existing P-EBT recipients would have benefits posted to their P-EBT cards, and newly eligible non-SNAP recipients would receive cards at the addresses provided by parents or guardians to schools.

Division of Personnel Director Dayna Clendinen said the government planned to begin a new Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, 2021, for retirees age 65 and older.

Government House also reported that the Virgin Islands Department of Labor had issued 39,763 unemployment insurance checks totaling more than $30.5 million, 27,356 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation checks totaling about $41.8 million, $4.19 million in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, and $1.31 million in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.

Before the briefing, Communications Director Richard Motta Jr. read a statement from Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. on the death of St. Thomas-St. John radio figure Wayne "Facts Man" Adams.

Motta also said the administration had suspended efforts to close on a matching funds securitization transaction that he said would have provided cash to the territory over three years while reducing long-term government debt obligations by an estimated $40 million over 20 years.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/administration-updates-residents-on-covid-19-p-ebt-cards-and-medicare-advantage-for-retirees/