Over 17 bln yuan allocated to COVID-19-treating institutions

China's medical insurance organs have allocated 17.179 billion yuan (2.45 billion U.S. dollars) of funds for medical institutions dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients as of Wednesday.

A total of 3.016 billion yuan of funds has been earmarked for Hubei Province and 902 million yuan for its capital city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Xiong Xianjun, an official with the National Healthcare Security Administration, said at a press conference Thursday in Beijing.

The funds, intended to relieve financial pressures on medical institutions, can meet the current demands for treating the disease, said Xiong.