Riverside
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted in unanimous approval during its Board Meeting on Monday, April 7th, for the municipality’s Emergency Management Department to accept a federal grant in the amount of $1.8 million dollars.
The money will be used to offset the costs related to a range of expenses associated with the county’s ongoing battles to respond to growing demands stemming from its battle to contain and mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
According to Emergency Management Department officials, the costs include expenses related to the purchase of surgical gloves and masks, equipment acquisitions—including ventilators, as well as the procurement of food and basic office requirements
The grant, being disbursed by the California Department of Public Health, is part of the new funding made available through the recently passed federal stimulus initiative—the Coronavirus Preparedness & Response Supplemental Appropriations Act.
The county’s supervisors affirmed, “The funding is critical support from the federal government to assist in the response to the ongoing pandemic.”
Now that the supervisors have authorized the acceptance of the grant, the county is required to advise the state in writing of measures already in place to combat the spread of the virus; as well as any costs associated with future plans related to bio-surveillance, early response and surge management.
As of noon Tuesday, April 7, 2020, more than 25 Riverside County residents were dead as a result of COVID-19 and at least 946 people in the county were confirmed positive for the illness.
