Carbon County is preparing to award its second round of COVID-19 Block Relief Grants.

On Thursday, Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that the county has or will be distributing over 80 percent of the $5.79 million it received through CARES as part of pandemic relief.

“We’re getting toward the end of the grants that we are giving,” Ahner said.

He pointed out that so far, the county has either awarded or will be awarding funds to 20 municipalities, 84 nonprofits, 208 small businesses, 26 tourism groups and one behavioral health agency.

He commended everyone who was involved in the process for application reviews during both rounds.

The commissioners are in the final review process now and will have the final list of recipients and distribution amounts on this week’s agenda.

To view the list of applicants for the second round of funding, visit www.carboncounty.com and click on the COVID-19 Relief (Carbon) County Block Grant Portal.

In a related matter, the commissioners approved awarding of payment to three entities from the first round of COVID-19 Relief Block Grants.

They include: $9,500 for Care Net of Carbon County; $2,040 for Lake Harmony Volunteer Fire Company and $51,999.31 to the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, which serves Carbon County.