Bangladesh gets $300,000 from ADB to fight coronavirus

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an emergency grant of $300,000 to help Bangladesh in fight against the novel coronavirus.

The grant will support procurement of health safety materials, including personal protective gears, N95 masks, safety googles, aprons, thermometers, and biohazard bags, the ADB said in a statement.

The list has been prioritised by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh. The materials will help the government to strengthen its efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the country.

The grant assistance is sourced from the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance entitled “Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases”.

“ADB is fully committed to supporting Bangladesh in the fight to control COVID-19, and this is only the first of the planned support that ADB is preparing to help the Government deal with this difficult situation,” said Country Director Manmohan Parkash.

“This assistance will invigorate Bangladesh’s ability to strengthen prevention, improve health professionals’ protection from the disease, test people to detect infection, manage severe cases, and reduce the risk of the deadly virus’ mass transmission.”