CNA
Cyprus hospitals are better prepared to meet the increased needs of the second wave of the pandemic, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou has said.
Speaking before the House Health Committee where he presented his Ministryโs budget for 2021, the Minister said that we have a duty to the citizens to safeguard the uninterrupted provision of health services and to take all necessary measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that private hospitals and clinics have been informed that they need to operate wards for COVID-19 patients. The Minister added that since the pandemic broke out and until September 30, the State has spent a total of โฌ32.4 million, while the total cost borne by the Ministry of Health with the measures so far amounts to โฌ45.4 million.
He also said that the greatest costs have to do mainly with the contracts for laboratory tests.
As regards the General Health System (GESY) Ioannou said that in the midst of a global pandemic, the Ministry has made enormous efforts to enable the implementation of the 2nd phase of GESY without any delay.
The Ministryโs budget for 2021 is up by approximately โฌ55 million compared to 2020 and it constitutes 9.63% of the total state budget.
