COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Recovery, Fairfax County, VA

Challenge:

The COVID-19 pandemic (DR-4612-VA) presented unique challenges for Fairfax County, VA, a jurisdiction well-versed in FEMA programs for disaster response and recovery. A suburb of Washington, DC, of well over one million residents, the jurisdiction faced the typical issues of most large, urban communities. Adequately addressing these needs while mitigating and reducing the transmission of Coronavirus was complicated by a truly metropolitan population where over 40% speak English as a second language. Operating one of the only jurisdictions in Virginia with an independent health district presented additional responsibilities for educating, testing, treating, and vaccinating residents. Also, for health workers, first responders, and others on the front lines, exposure to Coronavirus on the job put a strain on the county’s labor resources, increasing overtime and compensatory time. County decision makers realized early on that contending with the pandemic while serving the ongoing needs of the community would require tactics distinct from previous disaster declarations for tropical storms, hurricanes, snowstorms, and earthquakes.

Solution:

EM Partners supported pandemic response and recovery for Fairfax County, working closely with the county’s experienced emergency managers to maneuver what proved to be evolving FEMA guidance on eligible funding to mitigate and reduce the transmission of Coronavirus. EM Partners was integral to the formulation of multiple projects requesting reimbursement for the purchase and use of personal protective equipment and disinfection products and services, the dissemination of multilingual public information, Coronavirus-related security details, pandemic emergency operations, force account labor for health workers and first responders, as well as a large, non-congregate sheltering operation where entire hotels were retained to temporarily house people exposed to or infected with COVID-19.

Benefits:

Working directly with Fairfax County, our staff drafted compelling requests for FEMA reimbursement of PPE, disinfection, communication, security, non-congregate sheltering, and other FEMA eligible claims. EM Partners provided subject-matter-expert consultation along with technical support in the compilation, validation, and packaging of fully documented claims. Projects were formulated and submitted as closeout ready for projected funding of more than $50M.