SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — As the need for COVID-19 care and testing has hit an all-time high, counties are worried about funding.
“The pandemic isn’t going anywhere, so we are trying to piece that together for as long as possible,” said Laura Han, Skagit County communications coordinator.
On Nov. 30, Skagit County’s CARES Act funding ended, leaving them with just enough money to keep their county run COVID testing site open through December.
“So, we are at a point this month where our test site operations and other things that have been supported by CARES are being supported by other funding sources,” Han said.
The county pulled funding from other areas to keep the site running through March or April. But after then, the future of the county’s test site is up in the air.
“To be able to use the funding that we do have to do some COVID-related things, including the test site, we have to give up on some other priorities, things that we would typically fund. So, it’s a very difficult situation for us to be in," she said.
The first federal coronavirus stimulus package was approved earlier this year shortly after the first outbreaks.
“When we passed the CARES Act, there was some assumption that we would be farther along in the pandemic than we are,” Congressman Rick Larsen said.
Now as the spending deadline approaches, counties like Skagit are in a tough financial spot trying to keep county-run COVID services operating.
“Not only do we need to extend these deadlines so local health districts and local communities can allocate and use those dollars for COVID-19 relief that they already have, it’s clear that they are going to need additional dollars moving forward and that’s why a new package is so important,” Larsen said.
Congresswoman Suzan DelBene told KING 5 more federal funding for state’s COVID relief could be on the horizon.
“There are negotiations going on right now, bipartisan negotiations so that makes me a lot more hopeful that we have a charge to get something through. So, every day we are here — I’m in Washington D.C. — we will move a bill as soon as we can get an agreement,” she said.
That would be good news for Skagit County.
“If we were able to get additional support dollars... it would just be a security to be able to provide the necessary services that we don’t currently have right now,” Han said.