Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that food benefits will increase by 15% on Wednesday for all Connecticut households enrolled in SNAP while approximately 110,000 enrollees will receive a monthly COVID-19 emergency benefit on Saturday. It is part of $25.5 million in additional federal food benefits to Connecticut residents this week.

The SNAP increase will be the first of several monthly 15% increases that will continue through June.

The emergency benefit on Saturday, which averages $154, is the 10th monthly emergency COVID-19 allocation authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.

Lamont also announced there were another 76 deaths related to COVID-19 in the state over the weekend, bringing the total to 6,670. Hospitalizations increased by 16 to 1,114 and positive tests increased by 6,703 to more than 230,000 since the pandemic began.

In New London County, 94 people were hospitalized with the disease. Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London reported 38 COVID-19 patients on Monday; Westerly Hospital had 10.