NEW YORK – The US Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide $186 million in funding to states and local jurisdictions for additional resources related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
CDC will provide the supplemental funding to states and local jurisdictions that have the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases and jurisdictions with rapid increases in the number of such cases. The funding will go toward the purchase of lab equipment, supplies, staffing, shipping, infection control, surge staffing, monitoring of individuals, and data management, HHS said in a statement.
Additionally, the funding will support an existing agreement with state jurisdictions through the Emerging Infections Program to enhance surveillance capabilities, which includes investigating and evaluating the burden and severity of COVID-19, evaluating and determining risk factors and outcomes for the disease, and planning and implementing prevention strategies.
"Testing and surveillance is a vital piece of our efforts to beat the coronavirus, and this new funding will expand our ability to track and prevent the virus’s spread across the country," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.
"These funds will augment core public health capabilities including surveillance and predictive analytics, laboratory capacity, qualified frontline deployers, and the ability to rapidly respond to emerging disease clusters in communities that currently have limited person to person spread of the virus," CDC Director Robert Redfield added.