The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) delivered a vital shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) and computer equipment for Kyrgyz health care workers serving at the front lines of the COVID-19 response, the press service of the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgystan said, Trend reports citing Kabar.
The PPE, consisting of medical gowns, masks, N95 respirators, gloves, medical caps, shoe covers, and face shields, as well as supplies for taking patient samples for COVID-19 testing will be distributed to staff at health care facilities in Bishkek, Osh, Naryn, and At-Bashi to protect health care workers.
The PPE is accompanied by computer equipment and software used to closely track the progress of hospital patients, inventories of PPE, and monitoring of COVID-19 infection trends.
Highlighting the CDC’s close working relationship with the Kyrgyz Republic’s Ministry of Health, CDC Central Asia Director Dr. Daniel Singer remarked in a statement, “Kyrgyz health care workers and epidemiologists are leading this battle, and we are happy honored to do whatever we can to support them, building on decades of partnership in fighting influenza and HIV/AidsAIDS.”
The Head of the Department for the Prevention of Infectious, Parasitic and Epidemiological Diseases at MoH, Dinara Otorbayeva said, “Currently there are many scientific studies on COVID-19 conducted all over the world. Therefore, actions being undertaken may be supplemented by new findings, or even may change. With this regard international organizations provide huge support. For instance, our organization in cooperation with CDC and ICAP is providing various activities in response to COVID-19. We express our deep gratitude to the project for support in such a difficult time, during the coronavirus pandemic, for support in training medical workers and strengthening the base of healthcare organizations with PPE and organizational equipment. It is necessary to continue this project until stabilization of the epidemic situation in the country.”
This delivery of equipment, valued at more than 6,000,000 som, is part of a larger Center for Disease ControlCDC project, implemented by the University of Columbia’s ICAP to provide training and material support for the Kyrgyz Republic’s epidemiologists, doctors and nurses. At healthcare facilities in Osh, Bishkek and Naryn, the project helped Kyrgyz medical staff to conduct infection protection control assessments to improve safety for medical staff and provided trainings on epidemiological surveillance and contact tracing for medical workers at 19 healthcare facilities.
Through CDC and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States is providing more than $5 million this year to support Kyrgyzstan’s fight against COVID-19.