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Infectious disease expert Dr. Matt McCarthy discusses COVID vaccines and treatments.
Federal health officials on Friday announced an investment of $ 2.1 billion to strengthen prevention and control measures against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the public health care sector.
Funding, from the American Rescue Plan, will be made available to nursing homes to hire additional staff, increase vaccination rates of all types (such as influenza and COVID-19) and strengthen infection control Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said during a White House briefing.
“We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has put enormous pressure on the healthcare industry, from hospitals to nursing homes to outpatient clinics,” Walensky said, noting that several studies have shown a significant increase of nosocomial infections amid the pandemic, “reversing key national progress made before 2020.”
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Infection control measures are essential in nursing homes and hospitals that care for patients most at risk, she said. The funding announced Friday also involves a three-year plan to issue $ 1.25 billion to 64 state, local and territorial health departments to strengthen labs’ capacity to detect infectious threats, train and track infections in a timely manner. real.
“Infection prevention and control save lives across the healthcare industry, from stopping the spread of SARS-COV-2 to containing the spread of many other infectious diseases such as drug-resistant infections, ”Walensky added. “Ensuring that healthcare facilities have the resources to stop infections is critical to ending this pandemic and preventing future ones. “
The bulk of the initial funding by October, some $ 500 million, will go towards creating so-called “strike teams” to help nursing homes, long-term care facilities and others respond. to COVID-19 epidemics.
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