CDC to send $600M to state, local governments to aid in coronavirus testing
April 23, 2020 / By Brooke Singman | Fox News
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending more than $600 million to state and local governments to help with testing to identify new cases of the novel coronavirus, as officials weigh when to begin steps to reopen their economies.
The CDC is awarding $631 million to 64 jurisdictions through the existing Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases cooperative agreement.
The funds, which come from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed last month, could help states with their efforts to reopen amid the coronavirus crisis.
“This infusion of additional funding into the nation’s public health infrastructure will strengthen our capacity to implement tried and true containment measures,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement Thursday. “The ability to implement aggressive contact tracing, surveillance and testing will be fundamental to protecting vulnerable populations as the nation takes steps to reopen and Americans begin returning to their daily lives.”
