On November 3, Governor Reynolds allocated $3 million of CARES Act funds as a grant for local county health departments, based on a per capita basis, to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Linn County Public Health (LCPH) received notification on November 9 that $215,563 would be allocated to Linn County, and were tasked with spending the funds by December 30, 2020.
LCPH quickly responded by contacting community partners on the frontlines of COVID-19 response and assessing outstanding supply needs to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Community partners expressed an outstanding need to keep their customers or clients safe due to supply limitations and/or financial hardship due to the pandemic and the August derecho. LCPH purchased approximately $123,000 of personal protective equipment and supplies which prevents the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Supplies purchased include child and adult masks, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, gloves, gowns, and non-contact thermometers. LCPH partnered with Linn County Emergency Management Agency to purchase additional supplies for community partners in addition to those purchased with CARES Act funds.
A total of 68 partners requested supplies or personal protective equipment. Partners receiving supplies are home or center-based childcare providers, schools, or non-profit organizations. To date, supplies have been distributed to 45 of the 68 partners. Linn County Public Health anticipates the remaining 23 partners’ supplies will be distributed by early January 2021.