KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has spent a total of RM1.17bil in its fight to curb the spread of Covid-19 as of October this year, the Parliament heard.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang (pic) said although the ministry has spent more than the RM1bil allocation provided by the Federal Government, it will continue to implement all of its programmes and efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
"As of Oct 31,2020, the Health Ministry has spent a total of RM1.17bil, including existing allocation for the ministry, for the purpose of devices, medical supplies, consumables, personal protective equipment (PPE), test kits and reagents, as well as other services in our efforts to control the spread of Covid-19," he said during Question Time on Thursday (Dec 3).
He was responding to a question from Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli (PAS-Dungun), who asked the Health Ministry's total spending to address Covid-19.
Aaron said that a large chunk of the spending was distributed to pay the special Covid-19 allowance to the ministry's frontliners, which is worth a total of RM275mil and a total of RM262mil to purchase PPE, as well as reagents and test kits.
He revealed that a total of RM210mil has been spent on outsourcing for private lab testing for Covid-19 screening.
"The total amount does not include the payment of emolument for medical services staff involved in treatment control and outbreak of Covid-19, which has already been allocated under the existing fund for the Health Ministry," he added.
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