Warren County will receive up to $4.18 million in federal funding to assist with the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant funding is part of a $150 billion aid package approved by the U.S. Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Missouri is receiving $2.4 billion of that funding, according to the Missouri governor’s office.

Missouri is allocating part of the CARES funding to counties based on population. Warren County will receive over $4 million to help with local expenses directly related to the COVID-19 response. Funding cannot be used as a replacement for lost government revenue, or for expenses unrelated to the COVID-19 response.

As of Wednesday morning, 28 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Warren County, with 19 patients recovered and zero deaths.

However, local emergency responders and other entities have been spending funding on extra precautions to help limit any further spread of the disease.

Presiding County Comissioner Joe Gildehaus said the county is in the process of determining how CARES funding will be spent, and said the needs of health officials and emergency responders will take top priority.

“Our first priority is to make sure that our emergency management, our health department and our first responders are covered with their needs,” Gildehaus said. That includes personal protective equipment such as masks, disposable gowns, gloves and face shields, along with any other necessary expenditures.

The Warren County Emergency Management Agency is collecting information about each emergency district’s supply needs, Gildehaus said.

Commissioners said they are planning to establish a committee to hear requests for the CARES funding and make recommendations to the commission. All disbursements will have to go through the commission for approval so that the funding stays accountable, Gildehaus explained. The members of the CARES committee have not yet been decided.

According to state and federal guidelines, CARES funding can be distributed by the county to any other local political entity, including emergency districts, city governments and school districts. Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson said he envisions that entities will come to the county with funding requests before they incur further expenses related to COVID-19.

According to federal guidelines, expenses that could reimbursed by CARES funding include:

• Food delivery to senior citizens and other residents to help comply with social distancing precautions;

• Expenses to facilitate distance learning, including technology upgrades, related to school closings;

• Expenses to enable public employees to work remotely;

• Jail improvements or expenses for sanitation or to enable better social distancing.

Several other possible expenses or economic support activities are listed as possible uses for the CARES funding as well.

Only money that is spent between March 1 and Dec. 30, 2020, for COVID-19-related uses is eligible for the reimbursement.

Warren County's neighboring counties are also receiving CARES funding based on population. Below are the allocations for neighboring counties:

• Montgomery County -- $1.3 million

• Lincoln County -- $6.9 million

• Franklin County -- $12.2 million

• St. Charles County -- $47.1 million