Las Vegas, Nev. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) announced $7.2 million in Centers for Disease Control (CDC) funding to help Nevada’s efforts to safely reopen. This was appropriated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
“This funding will help get Nevada’s economy back on its feet by ensuring the state has additional resources to perform the robust contact tracing, enhanced testing, and increased protections for vulnerable populations that are vital to any safe reopening,” said the Senators. “The health and safety of Nevadans is our first priority, and we’re proud of our work to guarantee that Nevada receives the robust federal support it needs to fight this pandemic.”
BACKGROUND:
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) funding is appropriated under the CARES Act through the existing Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infection Diseases (ELC) cooperative agreement. The CDC will use existing networks to reach out to state and local jurisdictions to access this funding, which may be used for a variety of activities including:
- Establishing or enhancing the ability to aggressively identify cases, conduct contact tracing and follow up, as well as implement appropriate containment measures
- Improving morbidity and mortality surveillance
- Enhancing testing capacity
- Controlling COVID-19 in high-risk settings and protecting vulnerable or high-risk populations; and
- Working with health care systems to manage and monitor system capacity
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