The Ministry of Health and Wellness has already spent $4 billion of the $5.6 billion it was allocated to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 77 lives and infected 5,588 Jamaicans.
Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan said the $4 billion was spent between April and September. Forty per cent of that amount was expended in June and July.
Bryan said that the increased spend in those two months came as a result of honouring commitments made in March and April.
The bulk of the funds, approximately 1 billion dollars, was spent on drugs and personal protective equipment for health professionals.
Accommodation for Jamaicans who returned to the island under the controlled re-entry programme also cost the Government 709 million dollars.
