ADHS making $100 million immediately available to counties to support COVID-19 testing

CDC funding also can be used for disease surveillance, public health staffing, and more

Phoenix AZ (February 19, 2021) – The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is coordinating with local health departments to immediately allocate an initial $100 million in federal funding intended for staffing, laboratory testing, informatics, disease surveillance, and other activities critical to combating COVID-19.

Arizona received $418,951,131 as part of the $19 billion allocated to jurisdictions through the existing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) cooperative agreement at the end of January. Under its funding agreement with the CDC, ADHS must submit the complete budget by mid-March. Following approval, funding will support projects across the state undertaken from Jan. 15 on. The immediate $100 million allocation is intended to provide critical funding to local health departments to continue to support testing efforts statewide as ADHS develops the overall budget.

ADHS is making this funding available to counties using a formula of a $100,000 base amount plus funding based on their percentage of the state’s population. Pima County, for example, is eligible for around $14.4 million of the total $100 million, while Maricopa County is eligible for around $60.6 million and Greenlee County around $230,000. A full list of amounts by county is available below. 

This week, ADHS invited county health departments to submit proposals for this funding, which can be used for purposes including but not limited to:  

• Strengthening laboratory testing
• Improving surveillance and reporting of electronic health data
• Enhancing workforce capacity
• Advancing the use of laboratory data to enhance investigation, response, and prevention
• Coordinating and engaging with partners

Throughout the pandemic, ADHS has directly funded testing throughout the state, including Arizona State University’s saliva-based testing, airport testing, sequencing, serology (antibody) testing for healthcare workers and first responders in partnership with the University of Arizona, and rapid response testing for outbreaks at long-term care facilities. In addition to supporting county specific testing projects, part of the $418 million allocated to Arizona will continue to fund these statewide testing programs. This funding is in addition to the CARES Act funding provided directly to local jurisdictions and the state that could be used for testing and other public health activities. 

For more information on COVID-19 testing in Arizona, please visit azhealth.gov/COVID19testing.