By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Covid-19 pandemic has cost taxpayers $480 million to date says Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.
And at the Ministry of Health’s virtual press conference on Saturday, the minister thanked all taxpayers for their contributions.
He said, “From the start of Covid, preparing for Covid till now, the Ministry of Health has spent $480million on the Covid response. And that number, is it sustainable? We will have to continue to provide it but think about what that money could have done for other aspects of healthcare.”
Deyalsingh said, “It is a big undertaking and all of this have been provided at absolutely no cost to the Covid patient. We must thank the taxpayer for this. We always thank the healthcare workers and I thank them again, but let’s now thank the taxpayer. The taxpayer has rushed to the rescue of Trinidad and Tobago to the tune of $480million that is almost half of a billion TT dollars. That is the direct financial cost.”
Deyalsingh said, the Ministry of Health will continue to liaise with the Ministry of Finance for continued monetary support especially with the upcoming Budget in October.
Infrastructure, human resource and consumables were the ministry’s most expensive items, Deyalsingh said.
He gave examples of upgraded facilities, quarantine cost and personal protection equipment as some of the ministry’s expenditure.
He also asked the public to not to become numb to the daily death figures, seeing it as just a statistic.
The minister reminded that every life lost was one that will cannot be replaced and that daily, there were families grieving due to loss of loved ones.
