The National Arena in St Andrew will be used as a field hospital with 72 beds to respond to any surge in COVID-19 cases.

This announcement was made by Dunstan Bryan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness. This was disclosed this morning during a meeting of Parliament’s Special Select Committee discussing matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bryan stated that the Government will be spending approximately $182 million to prepare the facility to accommodate persons should there be a spike in the disease.

The arena will be used as an isolation facility for persons who test positive for COVID-19 as well as those who have mild symptoms of the disease.

Bryan reported that the health ministry has now received $2.8 billion from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service to bolster its response to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Giving an update on the stock of gears being acquired to protect healthcare workers as they battle the disease, Bryan said that 80,000 face shields are expected to arrive in the island by the latest next week; 500,000 N95 masks have now landed and were being cleared for distribution to health care workers including 100,000 for private health care workers.

Nine million gloves have also been acquired for the health sector.