By SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / Pic by ARIF KARTONO

THE government has spent RM1.17 billion as of October 31, 2020 on the measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, said Health Minister Dr Adham Baba (picture).

He said in a written reply yesterday that the amount was used for the purchase of equipment, supplies medical, consumables, personal protection equipment (PPE), reagents and test kits as well as other services to curb the coronavirus from spreading.

To date, the Finance Ministry has approved RM1 billion allocation for the Health Ministry (MoH) to eradicate the coronavirus.

Adham said medical officers who are involved directly in treating Covid-19 patients have been receiving a special allowance of RM400 since March 2020, which has been raised to RM600 beginning April.

He added that until October 31, MoH had spent a total of RM275 million for the Covid-19 special allowance.

In addition, Covid-19 front liners also receive a one-off RM500, which benefit more than 100,000 medical officers.