Tarrant County to receive $1.8 million from FEMA as reimbursement for COVID-19 costs
Tarrant County will be reimbursed $1.8 million from the federal government after officials used county funds for COVID-19 related expenses earlier in the pandemic, a county spokesperson said Friday.
County Administrator G.K. Maenius said the county can use the reimbursed funds for more personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing or any other coronavirus related expense. The money will be reimbursed through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, which reimburses governments for emergency-related expenses.
Sen. John Cornyn also announced Friday that the county would be receiving this money and his hope is that protective equipment will be purchased for the county’s first responders and public health staff.
“We can’t allow our nurses, doctors, and first responders to go without critical safety supplies while they fight to protect the rest of us from COVID-19,” Cornyn said in a press release.
Tarrant County nurses and doctors are experiencing the worst COVID-19 hospitalizations of the pandemic as there is a pandemic-high 919 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the county. The county has reported 16,931 COVID-19 cases, including 947 deaths and an estimated 84,318 recoveries.
