World Bank grants TT US$20m to fight covid19

THE World Bank has approved US$20 million for TT's covid19 emergency response project. In a statement on Wednesday, the bank's country director for the Caribbean Tahseen Sayed said this new World Bank project will support TT's response to covid19, focusing on the health sector.

"It will assist in providing critical medical supplies and equipment and will strengthen the capacity of the health sector," he said. The bank added that this project will help Government's national covid19 preparedness and response plan.

The bank said this plan deals with identifying and treating patients to minimise the spread of the infection and severity of cases. Its financing will support things such as procuring key medical supplies needed for testing and diagnosis, inputs for infection prevention and control in health facilities and personal protective equipment for staff.

In May, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said Government is projecting a total expenditure of $6 billion on covid19 relief and other needs between now and September. At that time, he said $934 million had been spent to date on covid19 relief.

Last month, Imbert signed two loan agreements with the Andean Development Bank for US$100 million and US$50 million for financial support for covid19.