Title: STOP COVID–19 Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Set Testing and Objectives Plan for COVID-19 Act or the STOP COVID-19 Act
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a temporary grant program for local governments that have health departments to carry out testing, contact tracing, and other activities to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). HHS may use unobligated funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund for these grants.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5073 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5073

   To establish a program to support county and municipal government 
   entities in reducing the spread of COVID-19 through standardized 
        testing and evaluation measures, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 19, 2020

  Mr. Scott of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read 
 twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                                Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a program to support county and municipal government 
   entities in reducing the spread of COVID-19 through standardized 
        testing and evaluation measures, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Set Testing and Objectives Plan for 
COVID-19 Act'' or the ``STOP COVID-19 Act''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR COVID-19 TESTING, CONTACT TRACING, AND OTHER 
              EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a 
program to award grants to county and municipal government entities, to 
support COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and other efforts to reduce 
the spread of COVID-19 in such counties and municipalities.
    (b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, a county or municipal government entity shall--
            (1) have a public health department; and
            (2) submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 
        such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
        may require, including the entity's operational plan and 
        proposed uses of the grant funds.
    (c) Technical Support.--The Secretary shall provide technical 
assistance to the public health department of government entities 
awarded a grant under this section.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section may be used in 
support of programs to increase COVID-19 testing and to reduce the 
spread of COVID-19, which may include hiring staff for COVID-19 testing 
centers, funding mobile testing centers, hiring contact tracers, 
purchasing IT equipment, conducting public awareness campaigns, and 
paying for COVID-19 testing or testing related equipment.
    (e) Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Each government entity receiving a grant 
        under this section shall--
                    (A) develop a data-driven program for COVID-19 
                testing, contact tracing, and other efforts to stop the 
                spread of COVID-19;
                    (B) operate a searchable, publicly available 
                website that lists every participating COVID-19 PCR 
                testing center in the jurisdiction and, with respect to 
                each such center, state--
                            (i) whether testing is free or the cost of 
                        such testing;
                            (ii) whether health insurance covers the 
                        testing, and, if so, what information health 
                        insurers will require before providing such 
                        coverage; and
                            (iii) the average time to obtain a test 
                        result; and
                    (C) report weekly on the metrics described in 
                subsection (f)(1), for each neighborhood established 
                under paragraph (2)--
                            (i) identifying any neighborhood for which 
                        there is nonattainment on any such metric 
                        during the applicable reporting period; and
                            (ii) describing the specific mitigation 
                        measures planned for any such neighborhood to 
                        reach attainment, including a description of 
                        the measures required under subsection (g)(2).
            (2) Neighborhoods.--
                    (A) In general.--For purposes of meeting the 
                requirements under paragraph (1), each government 
                entity receiving a grant under this section shall 
                divide its jurisdiction into neighborhoods, with each 
                neighborhood being an area with approximately 10,000 
                residents.
                    (B) Provision of information on map.--Each 
                government entity shall make available a map of the 
                total jurisdiction that illustrates the neighborhoods 
                established pursuant to subparagraph (A), and shall 
                provide the information required under paragraph (1) by 
                neighborhood.
                    (C) Designation of particular neighborhoods.--With 
                respect to any neighborhood that has not met the 
                evaluation standards described in subsection (f)(2) for 
                a weekly reporting period under subsection (f)(1), the 
                entity shall highlight such nonattainment on the map, 
                in a manner to notify public users of areas not meeting 
                the evaluation standards.
    (f) Evaluation Standards.--
            (1) In general.--The standards for purposes of determining 
        compliance under paragraph (2) are as follows:
                    (A) Positivity rate.--
                            (i) A positivity rate at or below 5 percent 
                        for PCR testing.
                            (ii) A rate of newly infected residents at 
                        or below 10 residents per 100,000 population.
                            (iii) PCR testing at or above 750 residents 
                        per 100,000 population.
                            (iv) Rate of infection of less than 1.0.
                    (B) Contact tracing.--
                            (i) Eighty percent of new cases of 
                        infection are contacted by a contact tracer 
                        within 24 hours.
                            (ii) Eighty percent of new cases of 
                        infection identify contacts.
                            (iii) At least a median of 3 contacts 
                        identified by a contact tracer per case.
                            (iv) Eighty percent of new cases followed 
                        up on, on a daily basis, by a contact tracer 
                        until the subject is out of isolation.
                            (v) Seventy percent of contacts respond to 
                        the contact tracer.
                            (vi) Eighty-five percent of contacts who 
                        are identified are tested.
                    (C) Test results.--Eighty-five percent of PCR tests 
                have results within 48 hours.
                    (D) Other standards.--The Secretary may modify or 
                replace standards described in subparagraphs (A), (B), 
                and (C), or add new evaluation standards, provided such 
                modification, replacement, or addition is based on 
                data-driven research that demonstrates the basis of the 
                Secretary's determination.
            (2) Compliance.--A government entity shall be considered to 
        be in compliance with the requirements of this section for a 
        weekly reporting period if each neighborhood in the entity has 
        met 85 percent of the standards under paragraph (1) for such 
        reporting period.
    (g) Effects of Noncompliance.--
            (1) Grant reduction.--
                    (A) Initial period.--For the 2-month period 
                immediately proceeding the date of enactment of this 
                Act, there shall be no reduction to the grant amount 
                received by a government entity as a result of non-
                compliance as described in subsection (f)(2).
                    (B) Subsequent periods.--Beginning 2 months after 
                the date of enactment of this Act, in the case of a 
                government entity that is not in compliance for a 
                reporting period as described in subsection (f)(2), the 
                entity shall remit to the Federal Government an amount 
                equal to 25 percent of the total Federal funds expended 
                for the government entity pursuant to the grant under 
                this section for the applicable weekly reporting 
                period.
            (2) Testing availability mitigation efforts.--In the case 
        of a government entity that is not in compliance for a weekly 
        reporting period as described in subsection (f)(2), the entity 
        shall ensure that, in the subsequent week, in each neighborhood 
        within the jurisdiction that did not meet 85 percent of the 
        standards under subsection (f)(1), residents have access to PCR 
        testing sites as follows:
                    (A) In urban areas, 90 percent of residents have 
                access to a testing site within 2 miles of their 
                residence.
                    (B) In suburban areas, 90 percent of residents have 
                access to a testing site within 5 miles of their 
                residence.
                    (C) In rural areas, 70 percent of residents have 
                access to a testing site within 15 miles of their 
                residence.
    (h) Funding.--The Secretary may use any unobligated funds made 
available to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to 
carry out this section.
    (i) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have force or effect on 
the earlier of the date on which all funds described in subsection (h) 
are expended or 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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