St Lucia is to benefit from US$10.5 million activated from World Bank projects to support the country’s COVID-19 response.

This the World Bank believes will help the country to strengthen its financing as they undertake various measures to address the health and economic outcome of the pandemic. The fund was accessed under the contingency emergency response components of the country’s Health System Strengthening Project and the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project in the amounts of US$5 million and US$5.5 million, respectively.

In a release yesterday, Tahseen Sayed, World Bank country director for the Caribbean said that this financing is welcomed and comes at a time when countries of the region have become financially burdened by the health and socio-economic impact of the debilitating virus.

“This immediate World Bank financing will contribute to strengthening St Lucia’s health care system and support its efforts to manage the impact of the pandemic. It will also provide much- needed income support opportunities through the rehabilitation of medical facilities,” she said.

“The financing for the health care system will help increase testing capabilities, build isolation units, and enhance public information campaigns to assist with awareness and prevention. It will also support the rehabilitation of Victoria Hospital and other medical facilities, creating employment through the associated labour-intensive civil works that will also enhance infrastructure resilience,” the release said.

WORLD BANK RESPONSE

The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries also said that over the next 15 months they will be deploying up to US$160 billion in financial support to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery. They said that US$50 billion of which will include new International Development Association (IDA) resources in grants or highly concessional terms.

“We are taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response. We are increasing disease surveillance, improving public health interventions, and helping the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs,” the entity stated in the release.