Equipment worth a total of $47,000 was bought and handed over as part of the project designed to bolster the WHO's preparedness and response measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and meets all the WHO requirements.
The two new heat imagers the airport has received can detect people with fever among passengers. It is of critical importance for screening travelers and can help prevent or slow down the spread of COVID-19. A batch of protective gear and diagnostic tools includes 305 disposable protective suits, 20 full-face masks with filters, 106 FFP2 class respirators and 110 FFP3 class respirators, 1,000 disposable face masks, 30 protective face shields, vinyl gloves, boot covers, 50 panoramic hermetic goggles, 54 elbow-operated disinfectant dispensers, 50 flasks with disinfectants, two oxygen saturation monitors, and four non-contact infrared thermometers.
Head of the WHO Country Office in Belarus Masoud Dara stressed: “The airport plays a very important role from the point of view of the safety of passengers and the personnel that work here. The World Health Organization with USAID's assistance is pleased to provide the airport with aid for the sake of effectively fighting the coronavirus. The wearing of masks, the observance of physical distancing, hand hygiene – it is particularly important to observe all these measures here.”
Mikhail Volochko, Head of the Material Supply and Procurement Service of the enterprise Minsk National Airport, said: “This aid will substantially enhance our potential to stop the pandemic and to also develop transportation by air in these conditions. We try to focus on preventing diseases. The protective gear and diagnostic tools will be immediately put to use. We are grateful to the World Health Organization and to international donors for gratuitous aid to the airport in such a complicated period of time.”
Previously the Belarusian national center for hygiene, epidemiology, and public health received a batch of equipment worth $210,000 for diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients as part of a USAID-WHO project. The national center for organizing medical response received 250 oxygen concentrators worth a total of $211,000.
Written by belta.by
