KATHMANDU: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mobilized another plane full of emergency medical supplies to help Nepal and Pakistan fight the deadly COVID-19 case surges that continue across South Asia on Friday night.
The flight landed in Kathmandu Saturday. The first lot had arrived four days ago on June 15.
The shipment departed Travis Air Force Base in California carrying pulse oximeters and personal protective equipment for Nepal, including 400,000 KN95 masks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and approximately 450,000 disposable gowns donated by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
For Pakistan, the delivery consisted of more than one million masks, including 928,000 KN95 masks from FEMA and 96,000 surgical masks donated by Medshare in partnership with Kaiser Permanente.
Saturday’s assistance builds on previous airlifts carrying thousands of surgical masks, face shields, and gloves to Nepal and thousands of pulse oximeters and pieces of personal protective equipment to Pakistan.
The emergency medical supplies from the US will help protect healthcare professionals in both countries and demonstrate the United States’ ongoing support in the fight against COVID-19 in South Asia.
With today’s flights, USAID has delivered approximately $66 million in urgently needed supplies over the past seven weeks to South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Since COVID-19 first broke out, the U.S has mobilized a whole-of-government response to deliver urgent, lifesaving assistance for South Asian countries, including Nepal.
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