With the rise in coronavirus cases in India, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday decided to treat Covid-19 as a “notified disaster”. The Move is intended to enable the States to spend a considerable chunk of funds from the State Disaster Response Fund to fight the pandemic.
Seeing this Increasing Outbreak (COVID-19) in India, The Centre said that the cost of hospitalization for managing coronavirus patients would be fixed by the state governments. The state government can use the SDRF fund for providing temporary accommodation, food, clothing and medical care for people affected and sheltered in quarantine camps.
Also, The state executive committee will decide the number of quarantine camps, their duration and the number of persons in such camps. “Period can be extended by the committee beyond the prescribed limit subject to the condition that expenditure on this account should not exceed 25 percent of SDRF allocation for the year,” the Ministry of Home Affairs notification stated.
Further, funds can also be withdrawn for setting up additional testing laboratories within the government set up.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India rose to 89, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday. So far, two deaths have been reported due to the lethal infection in the country.
The coronavirus, which originated in China’s Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries and infected over 1,20,000 people.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.
As per a letter from the Home Ministry, Rs 4 lakh will be given to the families of those whose deaths have been linked to the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. In addition, the cost of hospitalization for those being treated for the virus has been fixed by state governments.
Also, the state government will take care of the patient’s temporary accommodation, supply of food, water, clothing and medical care in quarantine camps- stated by the central government.
SDRF funds will also be used, the government said, to pay for additional testing centers and the cost of protective equipment for police, healthcare and municipal authorities, as well as that of thermal scanners and other necessary equipment for government hospitals.
Such expenditure, the government added, will be drawn only from the state’s funds and not the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
Total expenditure on equipment cannot exceed 10 percent of the fund’s annual allocation.
