The PPP/C government will spend $790m this year to operationalise the $1.6b Infectious Diseases Hospital.
This was stated yesterday by Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill during the 2020 National Budget speech at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre where the 12th parliament is meeting. The Minister stated that the government upon assumption of office had changed the dynamics of the country’s response to the virus.
According to Edghill, some $790 million in addition to the $1.6 billion that was “already sunk” into the controversial infectious disease facility at Liliendaal, will be allocated to operationalise the facility. He noted that the current government, upon examination of the facility found it to be lacking in adequate facilities for its intended use. “The touted hospital for infectious diseases at Liliendaal was examined by this new Administration and was found to be a shell – beautifully painted but lacking in facilities that could be used as a response to COVID-19,” the minister told parliament in the absence of the opposition APNU+AFC..
Further, he said that a number of issues exist at the hospital including sewerage, water supply and electricity. On that note Edghill stated that the government is trying to have the deficiencies at the facility corrected so that construction can be quickly concluded to bring it up to the appropriate standard and adequately equipped. The minister during his presentation stated that their intention is to have the facility staffed and commissioned by the end of September. While he charged that poor planning went into the conceptualisation of the facility, its redeeming feature will be that it would be able to cater for 200 patients. As it stands, the Liliendaal facility is currently being used for the isolation of non-critical patients as there are no facilities for an intensive care unit or High Dependency Unit.
He also pointed out that the country’s largest public hospital, the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) is still the main institution which is providing essential care for COVID-19 patients and the capacity at that facility as it stands has been overwhelmed even as work is still to be done. Currently the care extended to COVID-19 patients he said includes psychosocial support which has been extended to approximately 670 patients.
Edghill informed that government has also budgeted some $1.8 billion for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment for central government workers. This, he said, is in order to ensure the protection of public service workers so that their work can continue uninterrupted.
The minister also told the house that they plan to increase the health authorities’ capacity to conduct surveillance inclusive of contact tracing, noting: “Effective and sufficiently expansive surveillance, including contact tracing, is the absolutely required foundation on which pandemic control can be achieved.” To this end he added that the government will be partnering with the University of Guyana to strengthen surveillance and staffing.
“Until the transmission of COVID-19 is contained, Government would be hard-pressed to lift all of the emergency public health measures in place, lest lives of all Guyanese are put at risk” he said.
