BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $5.8 million to the State of New Hampshire to reimburse Keene State College for the cost of providing testing for students, faculty and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $5,847,714 FEMA Public Assistance grant to the public liberal arts college in Keene will reimburse it for purchasing nearly 165,000 COVID-19 antigen tests between January 2021 and March 2022.
The college also paid for 1,328 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, as well as courier services for the tests to be transported to a laboratory for analysis.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Keene State College with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Providing resources for our institutions of higher education to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to their success, and to our success as a nation.”
FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
So far, FEMA has provided more than $189 million in Public Assistance grants to New Hampshire to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.