Administration Holds Up $40M Emergency Aid Funds for Native Americans, 'Most Vulnerable Population', Report Says

“This is not the place you want to skimp on resources if you want to hold the tide on this disease,'' Stacy Bohlen, the CEO of the National Indian Health Board, told Politico. News on the spread among tribes is also on complaints about a lack of readiness at IHS clinics.

Politico: Exclusive: Emergency Coronavirus Funds For American Indian Health Stalled

The Trump administration has held up $40 million in emergency aid Congress approved earlier this month to help American Indians combat the coronavirus — a delay that’s left tribal leaders across the nation frustrated and ill-equipped to respond to the fast-growing outbreak. The funding has languished in bureaucratic limbo for weeks, despite increasingly urgent pleas from tribal organizations desperate to stockpile essential supplies and keep health clinics operational. Federally run American Indian health facilities are well short on hospital beds and ventilators, some frontline clinics received fewer than a dozen coronavirus tests, and federal officials have already signaled there will be little in the way of reinforcements — telling tribal leaders that all they can send right now are expired respirators. (Cancryn, 3/20)

https://khn.org/morning-breakout/administration-holds-up-40m-emergency-aid-funds-for-native-americans-most-vulnerable-population-report-says/