Federal agencies have spent more than $1 billion on contracts related to the COVID-19 coronavirus in the past six days, for a total of $1.4 billion in coronavirus spending since February, according to data obtained today by the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS).
Less than a week ago, the FPDS data showed coronavirus-related spending of just $387 million in February and March.
According to the latest data obtained by FPDS as of today, nearly 60 Federal agencies and departments had made over 1,200 purchases attributed to COVID-19 since February – more than doubling the number of transactions since just last week.
Among the biggest spenders:
The Department of Veterans Affairs made 573 transactions, totaling over $183 million – up more than $100 million since last week. These purchases ranged from janitorial services, to temporary shelters, to computer services, to surgical appliance and supplies manufacturing. By comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has four contracts listed, for a total of just over $1 million.
The Federal Prison System/Bureau of Prisons made nearly 60 COVID-19 related purchases in March for a total of $4.2 million. While many of these purchases were perishable food items, the prison system did pull the trigger on several computer-related contracts, including $143,000 worth of laptops purchased from the Alphasix Corporation.
Other agencies with over 40 purchases each include the National Institutes of Health; Offices, Boards and Divisions of the Department of Justice; Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; the State Department; the Indian Health Service; and the Public Buildings Service.
