CHARLESTON — Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and President Donald Trump’s Congressional Economic Task Force, today applauded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) announcement of funding to support coronavirus (COVID-19) response efforts.

The funds are from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020, which was signed into law on March 27. Of the total funding, West Virginia will receive $5,556,448.

These funds, coupled with the previous support provided by CDC, will help West Virginia in their efforts to gradually reopen.

“As our state continues to battle this pandemic, it’s important that we have the resources needed to be successful in stopping the spread of the virus and preparing to gradually reopen when the time is right. One of the critical components to make this possible is by increasing testing capabilities. We are making progress in West Virginia and across the country with testing capabilities and these new resources will help ensure that we can continue this expansion. Reopening states will be a gradual process based on local conditions. Everyone is different. But, today’s news from the CDC is a step in the right direction and will better equip states like West Virginia with the tools necessary to not only meet this virus head-on, but also prepare for the next step,” Capito said.

“This infusion of additional funding into the nation’s public health infrastructure will strengthen our capacity to implement tried and true containment measures,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D. “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.”

The funding, which is provided through the CDC’s existing Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infection Diseases (ELC) cooperative agreement will be used to: 

· Establish or enhance the ability to aggressively identify cases, conduct contact tracing and follow up, and implement appropriate containment measures.

· Improve morbidity and mortality surveillance.

· Enhance testing capacity.

· Control the spread of COVID-19 in high-risk settings. 

· Protect vulnerable or high-risk populations.

· Work with healthcare systems to manage and monitor system capacity. 

In total, the CDC awarded $631 million to 64 jurisdictions using funds from the CARES Act. Click here to view the list of funding to jurisdictions, as well as past COVID-19 related funding from the CDC.