PHOENIX – On Thursday, Governor Doug Ducey signed SB1051, which appropriates $55,000,000 from the Budget Stabilization Fund to the Public Health Emergencies Fund in Fiscal Year 2020 to combat the continued spread of COVID-19.
“The Arizona Department of Health Services is Arizona’s lead agency working to protect public health and prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Ducey in a press release. “This bill helps ensure we are continuing to be proactive and ensuring our health officials have all resources necessary. My sincere thanks to Senator Brophy McGee, President Fann and Speaker Bowers for their leadership on this issue. Members of both parties put politics and partisanship aside for this unanimous vote.”
Under S.B. 1051, any unspent funds added to the Public Health Emergency Fund will revert back to the budget stabilization fund on June 30, 2021. S.B. 1051 also continues the Arizona Department of Health Services—which was set to sunset on July 1st—for 8 years until July 1, 2028.
Arizona will receive $12.4 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support the public health response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This is in addition to the $500,000 already received from the CDC on March 4. Funding priorities will include surveillance and investigation activities, laboratory testing, infection control supply procurement and distribution, and risk communication.
“The State response to the COVID-19 outbreak is the top priority of ADHS, and we will be working with local public health departments to distribute and use the funds where they will make the greatest impact to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” said Dr. Cara Christ, ADHS director. “We have community spread of this virus in Arizona, and we will see additional cases. Our public health strategy is to slow the spread of the disease and protect those who are most at risk for serious complications.”
Ducey issued a Declaration of Emergency on March 11.
ADHS activated its Health Emergency Operations Center on January 26 after the first case of travel-associated COVID-19 was confirmed in Arizona. The Health Emergency Operations Center remains open to coordinate the State’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
There are nine cases of COVID-19 in Arizona. Two of the cases have been confirmed by the CDC, and the other seven are presumptive positive cases tested at the Arizona State Public Health Lab. These are tests that are pending confirmation from the CDC but are counted as cases, and public health takes appropriate action based on the results. There are three cases in Maricopa County, five cases in Pinal County, and one case in Pima County.