The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated a consignment of rain gears and assorted anti-coronavirus supplies to the Government of Liberia (GOL).

Making the donation on Saturday, June 13, 2020 on the compound of the Ministry of Health,  USAID/Liberia Deputy Mission Director, Rebekah Eubanks, said that the Agency was happy to respond to an SOS request from the Ministry to support the urgent procurement of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) supplies, and the ongoing efforts to ensure that contact tracers are able to continue their work even in the middle of the current rain season.

Ms. Eubanks said she was pleased to hand over the 200 sets of rain boots and coats and other assorted supplies because responding to COVID-19 in the rainy season is challenging especially for community health workers and contact tracers. “The sets of rain gear are critical to ensuring that COVID-19 response activities continue during the rainy season”, she said.

The other materials including hand sanitizers, biohazard bags, and alcohol 70% are also essential to preventing and controlling the spread of the disease. The items will be used to strengthen the response work of the IMS, and to ensure that contact tracers are able to continue their very important work in various communities.

Director Eubanks lauded the efforts of the Government of Liberia to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and pledged the United States continuous support to the GOL in its fight against the pandemic.

For her part, the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah thanked the Government and People of the United States for the donation and their overall support for the Liberian health care system. 

The United States Government support for COVID-19 response in Liberia also includes strengthening the capacity of county health teams for early detection and response to the outbreak. Through USAID projects namely: the STAIP, LINKAGES, and NPI Expand activities, the United States Government is supporting the following interventions:

• Case management and strengthening clinical care in Montserrado County, plus case investigation to minimize the risk of transmission to others.
• Availability of infection prevention and control and technical assistance in selected counties.
• Public health messaging about COVID prevention.
• Support has also been provided to counties to train and equip rapid-response teams to investigate cases and conduct contact tracing.

This assistance is made possible through the provision of approximately $4 million for the COVID-19 response, following the appropriation of $1 billion by the United States Congress to help countries across the world respond to the disease.   

The COVID-19 specific assistance to Liberia is in addition to the $40 million that USAID provides annually to strengthen the overall Liberian healthcare system.