U.S. Senator Brian Schatz says  Hawai‘i will receive $50 million in new federal funding to expand COVID-19 contact tracing and testing.

“I encourage state leaders to move at the speed of the virus and establish a contact tracing program that is fully operational as soon as possible. There’s simply not any time left, but there is plenty of money to get this done,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The new federal funding, which was part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act passed by Congress in April, can be used to develop, purchase, administer, process and analyze COVID-19 tests, scale-up laboratory capacity, trace contacts, support employer testing, and support other testing-related activities.

On Wednesday, University of Hawaii President David Lassner announced a partnership with the State Department of Health to provide training for people to become contact tracers.