Deyalsingh: Covid19 cost health sector $45m

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said TT’s regional health authorities (RHAs) had spent $45 million to fight the covid19 pandemic, addressing the House of Representatives Standing Finance Committee on Wednesday. Cabinet had initially committed $157 million to this initiative, he said, of which $45 million was committed or spent.

Deyalsingh said the Eastern RHA had been allocated $33 million and spent $3 million, North West RHA was allocated $16 million but spent $3.7 million, South West RHA had been allocated $5 million (of which an unknown sum was spent), and North Central RHA was allocated $129 million and spent $23.8 million.

He said these allocations were meant for a three month period of the crisis and had been calculated without the benefit of any precedent but based on a worst-case scenario.

Deyalsingh said the ministry had spent $100,000 on a covid19 hotline. Doctors recruited to work on this hotline had earned $5,000 per month each, he said.

The Augustus Long Hospital will be a tertiary care centre if the pandemic revisits TT, he said. Barataria/San Juan asked if the $45 million cost had been value for money, to which Deyalsingh replied he was shocked by how costly items were such as a medication called Human Globular Immune costing $100,000-$200,000 per patient.

He spelt out the terms and conditions of 11 Cuban nurses recruited to work in intensive care units at a cost of $3 million. Their monthly salary is $6,300, housing allowance is $2,000, transport allowance is $500, incentive allowance is $1,575, meal allowance is $625 and uniform allowance is $2,400. Asked if they each receive these sums, he promised to find out.