Finance ministry allocates 4.4b yuan to prevent, control new virus

The Ministry of Finance allocated 4.4 billion yuan ($634.3 million) in funds for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia on Monday, including 500 million yuan specifically given to Central China's Hubei province to prevent the virus from spreading, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry had allocated 1 billion yuan to Hubei province on Thursday to support the battle against the new virus.

The central government has released a new set of policies to ensure sufficient funding to contain the epidemic.

The central and local governments will provide subsidies to people infected with novel coronavirus pneumonia. Apart from payments by basic medical insurance, serious illness insurance and medical assistance system, any medical costs that must be personally paid for will be subsidized, a separate statement from the finance ministry said.

Medical staff and epidemic prevention workers will receive temporary work subsidies from the government, it said.

The China Development Bank, one of the country's major policy banks, offered emergency loans worth 2 billion yuan on Friday to Wuhan, capital of Hubei, for prevention and control of the novel coronavirus.