The central government on Thursday, 9 April, sanctioned a Rs 15,000 crore package to strengthen the fight against COVID-19. The sanction, CNN News-18 reported, is a part of the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package to fight the novel coronavirus, which has claimed at least 169 lives in the country and infected over 5,860.
An amount of Rs 7,774 crore will be put into immediate use and the remaining amount will be spread over the course of 1-4 years for medium-term support, The Economic Times reported.
The effort will be implemented in three phases from January 2020 to March 2024 with a primary focus on an emergency response to slow and limit the spread of the novel coronavirus in India.
This will be done with a focus on diagnostics and developing dedicated COVID-19 treatment facilities, as well as centralised procurement of essential drugs and medicines to fight COVID-19.
The secondary focus of the package, or the medium-term focus, will be to build stronger national and state healthcare systems and to practice preparedness for future outbreaks, include preventive measures and heightened disease surveillance.
The Centre earlier announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore relief package for migrant workers, frontline workers, and those left unemployed by the lockdown. The health ministry has also distributed Rs 4,113 crore to states and Union Territories to tackled COVID-19.
Over 220 labs, both government and private are currently working to screen adn test for COVID-19. This Rs 15,000 crore sanction is expected to bolster and boost their efforts, both in the immediate situation, as well as long-term.
(With inputs from The Economic Times and CNN News18)
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