ADB approves USD 300,000 aid to Bangladesh for tackling coronavirus

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted an emergency fund of USD 300,000 to Bangladesh to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic, a media report said on Saturday. Coronavirus has claimed five lives in Bangladesh along with 48 confirmed cases.

The ADB grant will fund the procurement of N95 masks, goggles, aprons, thermometers, and biohazard bags. The procurement list has been prepared by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh.

The grant is part of the Asian Development Bank's 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 ADB 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." Experts say Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, is at high risk of increased infections because hundreds of thousands of overseas Bangladeshi workers have returned home in recent weeks from Italy and other virus-affected nations. Many ignored government requests to stay at home after their return and attended social gatherings.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)