Sen. Gardner requests committee assistance to bring HHS funding to coronavirus efforts

Faced with more than 28,000 cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) worldwide and more than 550 deaths confirmed so far, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) called on Senate committees this week to guarantee response funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

As of this month, HHS informed Congress of a potential need to shift some $136 million from other funding streams to address the viral outbreak. At this time HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have maintained that risk to U.S. citizens remains low, but nerves appear to be fraying as the numbers overseas grow.

“The outbreak has also extended to over 20 additional countries, including the United States, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed ‘person-to-person spread,’” Gardner wrote in a letter to U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. “In response to the outbreak, both the World Health Organization and the United States have declared Wuhan coronavirus a public health emergency.”

Proactive funding coordination between the department and lawmakers would help both federal and local public health response, Gardner iterated. In the U.S., 11 people have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as of the CDC’s official figures last week.

“HHS, through a number of its agencies, is actively leading critical prevention, containment, and supply chain stability efforts. We must serve as a collaborative partner and ensure that there is sufficient funding for both current and potential future efforts.”