The government has allocated more than Rs.7.3 billion (Rs 7355.53 million) to provide relief to the people in the quarantine process to control the Covid-19 virus outbreak, the Government Information Department said on Wednesday (04).

These funds were allotted for the aforementioned purposes up to now following the staggering resurgence of Covid-19 cases from the Divulapitiya area.

In addition, the Treasury also hopes to set aside more funds as necessary, at the request of relevant parties, including Government Agents.

The Department says the government decided to allocate these funds for providing relief packs to families under quarantine at their own homes and to provide a relief allowance of Rs. 5,000 to low-income families in areas where quarantine curfew is in effect.

An amount of Rs.2721.27 million has been set aside for the Rs. 5,000 relief allowance in the Gampaha District while Rs. 2333.60 million was allotted for the Colombo District and Rs. 1310 million for the Kalutara District for this purpose. In the meantime, a sum of Rs.469.57 million has been allocated for the families in need of relief in Kurunegala District and Rs. 128.39 million for the Batticaloa District.

Accordingly, the allocation made during this period to provide an allowance of Rs. 5,000 to families who have lost their livelihoods due to the quarantine curfew amounts to a total of Rs. 6.9 billion (6962.83 million).

In the process of providing dry ration packs to the families under home quarantine, a sum of Rs. 75 million was allocated for the Colombo District as Gampaha and Kalutara districts were provided with Rs. 40 million each. A sum of Rs. 24.61 million has been provided for Kurunegala District and Rs .17.86 million for Galle District. The amount allocated for the Batticaloa District for this purpose stands at Rs.15.92 million and the amount given for the Nuwara Eliya District is Rs. 15.60 million. The government has spent a total of Rs. 336.54 million to provide dry ration packs to families under home quarantine in 20 districts.

In addition, the government has provided Rs. 56.16 million to implement quarantine related activities in 11 districts, the Government Information Department added.