With the COVID-19 pandemic persisting well into its second year, the City of Dothan wants to purchase portable isolation facilities with leftover federal pandemic relief funds.
City commissioners agreed to submit an application to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for a Community Development Block Grant, funded by leftover CARES Act money recaptured by the state, to buy two 20-bed isolation facilities to use in COVID-19 response and recovery during their Tuesday meeting.
The city is asking for $476,784 for the project, which will provide other opportunities to care for the community beyond the COVID-19 health crisis.
Sean Gibson, training and EMS chief at the Dothan Fire Department, said the facilities are made of tent material and can be deployed by a trained person in 10 minutes.