Hong Kong budget: health bosses get HK$970 million cash injection to fight coronavirus epidemic
- Public hospitals to get extra HK$3.6 billion a year for staff retention, services and research
- Finance Secretary Paul Chan says government is committed to getting outbreak under control
The Hong Kong government has pledged an extra HK$3.6 billion a year for the city’s public hospitals to improve staff retention, services and research, and given health authorities coping with the coronavirus epidemic a HK$970 million cash injection.
In Wednesday’s 2020/21 budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said combating the novel coronavirus Covid-19, which has infected 89 people in Hong Kong and killed two, was a priority for the administration.
“Currently, the most pressing tasks for the government are to control the epidemic and stabilise our economy,” he said.
“We should plan ahead to enhance the capability of our health care system in preventing and treating infectious diseases. I will provide resource support on this front.”
The cash boost came two weeks after the government created a HK$30 billion war chest to fight the growing health crisis, handing an immediate HK$4.7 billion to public hospitals to cover subsidies for staff accommodation, and extra personal protective equipment, as well as funding mask production, procurement and innovation, and supporting industries affected by the epidemic.
