Disability rights groups lobby Gov. Lamont to prioritize vulnerable residents in distribution of COV

Two Connecticut disability rights groups have written to Gov. Ned Lamont asking him to prioritize people with high risk of severe illness in the process of distributing COVID-19 test kits and masks.

The governor has given municipalities wide discretion in passing out supplies secured by the state, suggesting — but not requiring — that they focus particularly on their most vulnerable residents.

In a letter dated Friday, Disability Rights Connecticut and the Connecticut Legal Rights Project said the state’s “failure to provide equitable access to testing and N95 masks” violates state and federal anti-discrimination law. They wrote that disabled people, including those in prisons, psychiatric hospitals and group homes, should receive priority in the distribution process.

“There is no recognition of the responsibility of the state to make sure that [distribution of the supplies] was prioritized for those at greatest need,” Sheldon Toubman of Disability Rights Connecticut said Saturday.

Read more: https://www.courant.com/coronavirus/hc-news-coronavirus-disability-rights-covid-test-kit-distribution-20220101-b4e7vpggjvdo7agdukf6zp6gaq-story.html