By Ashwin Kumar
SHAH ALAM, March 23 — The Health Ministry (MOH) will receive an extra RM500 million allocation to combat Covid-19, as well as an additional RM100 million to hire 2,000 new contract-based staff, says Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today.
He said the RM500 million allocation will be used to purchase ventilators, intensive care unit (ICE) equipment, additional personal protective equipment (PPE) and laboratory supplies.
“The procurement of ventilators, ICU equipment and PPE will be expedited as the government has approved emergency procurement processes.
“The Federal government has also agreed to allocate a further RM100 million to MOH to hire an additional 2,000 medical staffs under contract, especially nurses.
“A lot of nurses and medical staff are overworked at the moment in their efforts to treat Covid-19 patients across the country.
“I hope the hospitals will expedite the hiring of contract staff as soon as possible,” Muhyiddin said in a special press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya today.
The announcement comes after today’s Economic Action Council (EAC) meeting, chaired by the prime minister and three senior ministers.
Muhyiddin said the Federal government’s initiatives announced today is part of the existing economic stimulus package and the people’s aid (Bantuan Rakyat), and that a more comprehensive package would be announced on March 30.
