State Gives $35 Million to Local Health Departments for COVID-19 Response

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is allocating $35 million in federal funding to local health departments across the state to support their COVID-19 responses.

The announced was shared in a release from Governor Roy Cooper’s office on Tuesday, saying each county would receive at least $90,000 with  additional funding determined by population size and each county’s cumulative positive COVID-19 caseload. According to federal guidelines, the health departments can use the one-time funds to support COVID-19 staffing, infection controls, testing and tracing, IT infrastructure and data sharing and visualization.

Orange County will receive more than $412,000 of funding, according to NCDHHS, with Chatham County receiving more than $480,000. Mecklenburg County and Wake County are set to receive the most funding in the state, with $3.5 million and $2.1 million respectively.

Orange County Commissioner Penny Rich spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck about the allocation, saying it will likely be used to aid the health department’s contact tracing efforts within communities.

“We’re trying to get about 15 more trackers to conduct contact tracing of COVID-19,” she said, “and we’re also trying to get a permanent data manager. The data changes from day to day and you need someone who can be on top of that so we can do the right tracing and tracking to keep people as healthy as possible.”

Rich said such tracing will be critical if UNC continues its plan to have students return to campus in the fall. She said even if it’s a reduced amount, adding thousands of people to the county will immediately make it more important to keep track of how COVID-19 spreads, especially as cases in the county increase. Even with the Carolina Roadmap’s public health guidelines, the county health department’s involvement will be key.

“The contact tracing is vitally important [when it comes to UNC,] said Rich, “because as a school, you can isolate people you know have been in contact with someone who is positive. And as we know, this is spreading now community-wide and not just in congregate living anymore. that’s why we need those contact tracers, to keep up with the demand.”

To read the full list of federal funding allocation to local health departments, visit the North Carolina state government’s website. To learn more about contact tracing, visit the Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

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