CNMI to get $367.76K share of CDC funding

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The CNMI has been allocated a total of $369,765.90 in funding under the newly signed 2020 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the new law, an additional $8.3 billion has been made available to support state and local jurisdictions to respond to COVID-19. This includes an additional $2.7 million in support to the insular areas as part of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (Public Law 116-123), signed by President Trump on March 6, 2020, and announced by the U.S. Department of Health Services on March 11.

The Act includes statutory language prescribing the exact formula for disbursing funding under the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program. The following amounts have been made available to the territories and Freely Associated States to support their response to COVID-19: American Samoa ($370,246.50); Guam ($479,431.80); Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ($369,765.90); U.S. Virgin Islands ($419,100.30); Republic of the Marshall Islands ($367,754.40); Federated States of Micronesia ($420,402.60); Republic of Palau ($336,793.50).

Support to the U.S. insular areas is coordinated through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support in Atlanta, Georgia. For many years, the CDC has engaged with the U.S. insular areas to develop and continuously refine emergency response plans, including response plans for pandemic influenza, through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program. The PHEP program includes cooperative agreement funding and technical assistance for the U.S. territories and FAS.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has applauded CDC for their ongoing technical assistance and financial support to the U.S. territories and the FAS during the current coronavirus pandemic.

“Health systems and infrastructure are especially vulnerable in the island areas, and as of today, both the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam have reported positive cases of COVID-19,” said Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Douglas W. Domenech. “The CDC has been a long-time partner to the U.S. territories and the Freely Associated States and we appreciate the ongoing support and expertise that they continue to provide, especially during this unprecedented time. My team and I at the Office of Insular Affairs are in touch with the governors of each of the territories and are evaluating ways to provide supplemental support and assistance as needed.”

Currently, the CDC is collaborating with others to adapt existing response plans for the current COVID-19 threat. The CDC is supporting each jurisdiction in applying their plans and facilitating regular regional calls for the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands to provide a forum for them to share information.

The CDC also provides technical assistance and develops additional funding options to support regional mechanisms for infectious disease response such as the laboratory specimen shipment mechanism that allows public health laboratories in Hawaii and Guam to provide testing services for the USAPI.

The CDC provides direct support to the islands’ COVID-19 response through their emergency operations center in Atlanta, and through staff assigned in Guam, Honolulu, and Puerto Rico.

For more information on CDC’s Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, visit https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/about-cstlts/index.html

In related efforts, President Trump declared on March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant an emergency declaration for all states, tribes, territories, and the District of Columbia pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. More on this announcement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be found at: https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2020/03/13/covid-19-emergency-declaration. (PR)