NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday announced a financial package of Rs 15,000 crore to ramp up the overall healthcare infrastructure in tackling the coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly 6,500 people and has left at least 196 dead in the country.
The government said an amount of Rs 7,774 crore out of the package will be utilised for immediate response to the pandemic while rest of it will be spent in the medium-term (1-4 years) under mission mode approach.
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The health ministry, in a statement, said key objectives of the package include mounting emergency response to slow and limit the growth of COVID-19 through the development of diagnostics and dedicated treatment facilities.
The announcement of the financial package came as several states are reeling under mounting pressure to provide healthcare support to rising number of people infected by the virus.
Separately, a Group of Ministers (GoM) chaired by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan carried out a comprehensive review of the overall containment as well as management of COVID-19 in the country.
The GoM also deliberated on social distancing measur