The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services canceled more than $11 billion in federal grants to states that were allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal department and state officials said on Wednesday.

State and local public health departments are bracing themselves as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulls back about $11.4 billion in grants that were allocated to state and community health departments during the Covid-19 pandemic response.

The Department of Health and Human Services is canceling tens of billions of dollars in federal grants that state and local health departments were using to track infectious diseases, health