Dealing with pandemic in Georgia cost taxpayers more than $1 billion early on

In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic the state obligated about $1 billion in federal spending for everything from grants, isolation gowns, masks and mobile facilities to doctors and nurses at hospitals and nursing homes across Georgia, according to a report officials sent the U.S. Department of Treasury.

As of the end of the state’s fiscal year, June 30, it still had an additional $2.4 billion in Coronavirus Relief Funds money for COVID-19 response, according to the report recently sent to the federal government. The state will send another, more up-to-date report to the federal government in coming weeks.

The recent report — obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — lists dozens of companies from Georgia and across the country that received contracts worth at least $50,000 during the hectic days and months after the state began feeling the impact of the pandemic and health care facilities desperately needed staff and equipment to deal with COVID-19.

According to the report, among the contracts was one potentially worth up to $220 million for a subsidiary of Jackson Health Care, the Alphretta-based health care staffing company; $51.5 million for PAE Holding Corp., an Arlington, Va.-based infrastructure and logistics company that converted the Georgia World Congress Center into a temporary hospital and staffed it; a $35 million contract to Sandy Springs-based Ipsum Diagnostics for COVID-19 tests; and a host of multimillion-dollar deals for contact tracing, testing and equipment.

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/politics/dealing-with-pandemic-in-georgia-cost-taxpayers-more-than-1-billion-early-on/6KEK3IKK3FFNXCI2A2A4EM5O5Y/