NORWICH - The Norwich Housing Authority, once a hot spot for COVID-19, has been awarded more than $23,000 in federal assistance to help respond to the pandemic. But agency officials say tight restrictions on this new round of funding aren’t really helping them deal with the onslaught of COVID related expenses.

What the Norwich Housing Authority received last week was just a slice of the $640,000 distributed to public housing authorities across the 22nd Congressional District to relieve low-income communities impacted by coronavirus.

Funds had been secured through the bipartisan CARES Act which passed the federal legislature in March.

CARES Act funding comes by way of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and may be used by public housing authorities to help families who are assisted by housing choice vouchers and mainstream vouchers to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the pandemic.