AN additional $157 million will be pumped into the health system of Trinidad and Tobago as a means to combat the Covid-19 threat.
This was announced by Prime Minister Keith Rowley at the post cabinet media briefing on Thursday.
The funds, not the final sum, will be made available to the Ministry of Health to deal with COVID-19 response at four regional health authorities.
It will be spent on consumables, human resources, infrastructure and equipment over the next three to six months.
It is broken down as follows:
Eastern Regional Health Authority – $6.2 million – including expenditure to use Balandra quarantine facility
North West Regional Health Authority: $16.6 million.
South West Regional Health Authority: $4.5 million.
North Central Regional Health Authority: $129.9 million – including expenditure to keep Caura Health Facility and Couva Hospital running.
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said, “The general headings that this $157 million will be used fall under consumables. That is things like gloves, surgical caps, swab kits, syringes…
“The other second heading will be our human resource capacity. We have to ramp up our human resource capacity… consultants, house officers, enroll nursing assistants…
“The third category of spend will be under infrastructure… We may be building more things like isolation rooms, self-quarantine area for staff…the fourth and final category will be equipment. That will be things like cardiac monitors, ventilators, vital sign monitors…”
