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Amata welcomes another CDC grant from CARES Act

Congresswoman Aumua Amata
Sources: Media release from Cong. Aumua Amata's office

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Aumua Amata on Monday welcomed a second health grant — this one $740,000 — to American Samoa from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) specifically to support our COVID-19 response.

Combined with the CDC’s previous $370,000 grant to American Samoa in late March this makes a total of $1.1 million to date directly for local coronavirus efforts.

“This is timely news for ongoing health care preparations in American Samoa, and once again a direct funding result of the recent historic CARES Act,” said Aumua Amata. “Congratulations to our doctors and nurses, and Health Director Motusa Nua. Thank you to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, and I know it will be put to good use for our readiness.”

Through the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations (CARES) Act, 2020, CDC plans to award $186 million in additional funding around the country to states, localities, and territories this week.

“Increasing the capacity of our nation’s public health infrastructure is critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in communities across this country,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D.

He explained, “These funds will augment core public health capabilities including surveillance and predictive analytics, laboratory capacity, qualified frontline deployers, and the ability to rapidly respond to emerging disease clusters in communities that currently have limited person to person spread of the virus.”

The CDC states that the effort will support a range of activities such as lab equipment, supplies, staffing, shipping, infection control, surge staffing, monitoring of individuals, and data management, and supplements existing cooperative agreements with jurisdictions.

For the latest information on the outbreak, visit CDC’s Novel Coronavirus 2019 website.