Manila—U.S. Ambassador to the
Philippines Sung Kim announced on April 10, 2020 the US government's donation of
nearly 1,300 new cots to support the Philippine
government's response to COVID-19. Ambassador Kim
stated, "I'm pleased to be able to hand over these new cots, on
behalf of the U.S. government, to our Philippine partners. We stand
together with the Philippines, as both of our nations work to save lives
and protect our people in the fight against COVID-19."
Joining the Ambassador to receive the cots were Foreign Affairs Secretary
Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. and Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, Administrator for the
Office of Civil Defense.
In partnership with the Philippine government,
the United States donated more than 1,100 cots to the Office of Civil
Defense to aid COVID-19 patients. The United States also provided
150 cots to support patients and frontline Department of Health
medical professionals at Philippine General Hospital who are providing critical
diagnosis, treatment, and care. The cots were originally intended for the
Balikatan 2020 joint military exercise.
In addition to the donation of cots, the United States is
providing the Philippines nearly PHP204 million (US$4 million) in health
assistance to help address the COVID-19 pandemic in Manila and around the
country. US assistance supports several important efforts: laboratory
system preparedness, case-finding and event-based surveillance, technical expert
response and preparedness, risk communication, and infection
prevention. These efforts complement ongoing assistance from the
U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Biological Threat Reduction
Program.
Over the past 20 years, the United States has provided more than PHP29.5
billion (US$582 million) in assistance to strengthen and develop the Philippine
health system.
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