KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Health and Population has directed all COVID-19 hospitals to provide risk allowance to the frontline health workers. Ministry’s Assistant Spokesperson Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari said that a secretary-level meeting at the ministry on Friday took a decision to this effect. He said the designated hospitals have been given the risk allowance up to mid-October and the hospitals are directed to release the allowance at the earliest possible time. According to Adhikari, the hospitals had received Rs 668.7 million in risk allowance including the treatment costs of the infected ones. It is said that the ministry was working to release another lot of amount up to mid-November. Likewise, the ministry stated that its serious attention was drawn to the delay in payment of risk allowance to the frontline health workers involved in the test and treatment of the COVID-19 patients. As stated in the ministry’s directive, the frontline health workers would be provided upto 50 to 100 per cent in risk allowance.