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Indiana hoping to get a piece of the federal coronavirus funds

Indiana hoping to get piece of coronavirus federal funds

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Even though there is only one diagnosed case of coronavirus in Indiana, multiple people have been tested and officials hope to get some money to help with that.

This week, Congress passed a nearly $8 billion funding package to help fight coronavirus. The money will boost funding for testing and help cover the costs of treatments. Vice President Mike Pence said that money will be available for state and local response.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said there are a lot of needs here. She would like money to help pay for more epidemiologists to investigate the spread of the disease; so things like talking to everyone the patient may have talked to, and finding out where they went and who else they might have infected. They also need to buy masks for people in isolation, pay for additional testing and treatment and pay for keeping people in isolation. Dr. Box also said they need more resources for their call center, which is being flooded with calls from medical professionals and concerned Hoosiers.

There is no word on when the state might be able to get a piece of that federal money.

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