Health ministry hunts more money for COVID fight
Published:Thursday | April 30, 2020 | 12:00 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
The health and wellness ministry has only $300 million left to spend out of the $2.8-billion budget it has received to fight the coronavirus disease and has signalled that it will be going back to the finance ministry for more.
“We are now in negotiations with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service for additional sums to be made available to the ministry over the next six months,” Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan said yesterday at a press conference.
“... As soon as those numbers are finalised with the ministry, we can provide those.”
He, however, did not respond to queries to provide a breakdown of the expenditure, but The Gleaner understands that medical equipment and drugs take up the bulk of the spend.
The ministry, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, is financing a $182-million 72-bed field hospital to respond to any surge in local coronavirus cases.
On that score, the ministry said it is now in negotiations with a contractor to outfit the National Arena as a facility to house COVID-19 patients.
But the permanent secretary declined to give details on the contractor.
“ ... I wouldn’t want to compromise that negotiation by declaring who that contractor is. But we have utilised our emergency-contracting procedures to have that contract in the shortest period of time,” Bryan said.
He disclosed that he expected the negotiations to be completed in seven days.
WORK TO BE DONE
The scope of work will include electrical connections for medical equipment and general support services, increase in water-storage capacity from 8,000 gallons to 14,000 gallons, temporary backup power supply, temporary outdoor bathroom and shower facilities, security fencing, and the acquisition of medical equipment and furniture.
The JDF will be technical supervisors of the contract.
Jamaica’s COVID-19 cases climbed to 396 yesterday after the health ministry said 32 new cases were confirmed in the last 48 hours.
The 32 cases consist of 11 are males and 21 females.
Fifteen are linked to Alorica in St Catherine; 11 are contacts of confirmed cases; one is imported; and five are under investigation.
Of the 396 cases, 202 are employees of Alorica.
Jamaica now has 35 imported cases. Twenty-nine people have so far recovered from the virus.
The health ministry has also reported that five healthcare workers are among the 396 confirmed coronavirus cases in Jamaica.
Bryan reported that all five are employed to hospitals and health facilities. Seven employees of the Ministry of Health and Wellness have also tested positive.
In the meantime, Bryan said that more than 300 samples have been taken from health ministry workers and the results are now being made available.
“I am hoping to have those numbers available by tomorrow so that we would be able to have an exact number of the persons in the Ministry of Health and Wellness that have been impacted,” he said.
There is still a backlog of around 400 test results.