Contacts:
Devyn Giannetti: (216) 225-9813; dgiannetti@cuyahogacounty.us

Cuyahoga County’s Report to the Community Highlights the County’s Emergency Response to the Pandemic

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OH - Today Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish released the County’s Emergency COVID Response Report. The report serves as a follow-up to Strong Together, issued in August 2020, and further outlines the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Cuyahoga County, and the County’s comprehensive response to the pandemic.

The County’s COVID Response Report reviews several of the different ways the County worked internally and with its community partners to combat the effects of the pandemic on our residents and businesses.

The three areas include:

• Public Health and Safety: Outlines the work, initiatives, and funds provided to protect the health and safety of residents. Some of this work includes the Office of Emergency Management’s (OEM) critical support to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and OEM’s leadership in setting up a PPE storage facility at the County-owned Harvard Road Garage, $5 million distributed for COVID testing in underserved communities, providing home-delivered and curbside meals to residents in need, and supporting the homeless during COVID-19, among others.
• Economic Crisis: Highlights new County initiatives and financial assistance programs aimed at supporting local businesses and job seekers. Some of these initiatives include the county’s Small Business Stabilization Fund, Restaurant Stabilization Fund, Northeast Ohio Rental Assistance Program, municipal grant program, and bridging the digital divide in Cuyahoga County.
• Maintaining County Services: Features ongoing county services and programs that were shifted to online, over the phone, or contactless to keep both our employees and residents safe, including but not limited to, Cuyahoga Job and Family Services continuing to support families in need of food, medical and emergency assistance, Child Protection Specialists with the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) continuing to investigate allegations of abuse, and finding forever families for children and teens in custody of DCFS.

“This pandemic has further exposed just how vulnerable many of our residents are. As I look back at the past year, I am incredibly saddened by the lives lost and by the terrible inequities of how this pandemic struck,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. “The work highlighted in this report demonstrates our County workers’ and our community partners’ urgent commitment to helping our residents get the supports they need to stay safe and healthy during the ongoing COVID crisis. We are not out of the woods, but because of our efforts as a community, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.”


Watch the Cuyahoga County COVID response video.