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Hawaii will have immediate access to more than $4.5 million in emergency funding to aid the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said, “This federal money will help fund Hawaii’s response efforts and give us additional resources to keep people safe.”
The funding is part of an $8.3 billion emergency spending package approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last week.
“Our state, local, tribal and territorial public health partners are on the front lines of the COVID-19 response. The action we are taking today will continue to support their efforts to increase public health capacity where it’s needed most,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “These funds will allow public health leaders to implement critical steps necessary to contain and mitigate spread of the virus in communities across the country.”
The emergency funding will help Hawaii with surveillance and monitoring, laboratory testing to identify new cases, tracing additional positive cases and infection control and mitigation activities.
In addition to the $4.5 million, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that Hawaii was to receive $2.75 million in initial funding to support Hawaii’s response to the coronavirus.
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