Covid-19: Government is criticised for “scandalous” £10bn spent on test and trace programme
Gareth Iacobucci
Abstract
The UK government has spent £10bn (€11.2bn; $12.7bn) on its much derided covid-19 test and trace programme and £15bn on personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare staff, the Treasury disclosed this week. It revealed the figures in a document summarising the substantial financial commitments made by the government in response to covid-19,1 published on 8 July as part of the chancellor’s plan for jobs. The Treasury also disclosed that, since mid-March, the government had spent £1bn on additional ventilators for the NHS and £5.5bn on other health spending, such as paying for extra capacity in private sector facilities. Experts said that they were astonished at the size …
Topics & Concepts
TreasuryCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Government (linguistics)Test (biology)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakTRACE (psycholinguistics)BusinessSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Health carePrivate sectorPersonal protective equipmentFinanceMedicinePolitical scienceEconomic growthEconomicsVirologyPathologyLinguisticsDiseaseOutbreakPaleontologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)LawPhilosophyBiologyHealthcare Systems and Challenges