04.07.20

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Additional $8 Million in Federal Funding to Support COVID-19 Response in Illinois

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $6.3 million to the State of Illinois and $1.7 million to the City of Chicago to support COVID-19 response. This is in addition to funding previously provided by the CDC, for a total of $23.7 million for Illinois and $12.2 million for Chicago.

“Our state and local public health departments are at the forefront of this crisis and this federal funding will help them continue their critical work of mitigating and preventing further spread of coronavirus,” Durbin said. “Senator Duckworth and I remain committed to ensuring that Illinois receives the federal support it urgently needs during this pandemic.”

“Our nation’s health care system and state and local health departments are on the front lines as we work to defend Americans from COVID-19, and this funding will be critical in providing them with the resources they need to continue their vital work during this public health pandemic,” said Duckworth.  “Keeping Illinoisans healthy and minimizing the impact of COVID-19 is crucial right now, and I’ll keep working alongside Senator Durbin to help bring home more federal resources and funding to limit the spread of the virus causing this disease.”

The funding will support a range of services, such as lab equipment, supplies, staffing, shipping, infection control, surge staffing, monitoring of individuals, and data management. The funding will also supplement an existing cooperative agreement to state jurisdictions through the Emerging Infections Program (EIP) to enhance surveillance capabilities.

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