The U.S. Government announced the release of $62 million from the Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks (ERF) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to address the pandemic of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus now called SARS-CoV-2.
USAID issued a determination to make these funds available from the ERF because the current pandemic is an emerging health threat with severe consequences to human health which is in the national interest of the United States to respond. Since cases of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan City, in Hubei Province, in the People’s Republic of China, the United States has continued to call on nations to comply with their obligations under the International Health Regulations (2005) and for other donors to contribute to the effort to address the disease.
USAID will use these new funds and the $37 million from the ERF previously authorized and announced for critical interventions in developing countries affected by, or at high-risk for, the COVID-19 pandemic. These activities will include heightened risk-communications and engagement with local communities; the prevention and control of infection in health facilities, including through the provision of personal protective equipment and other critical commodities; increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity; the management of cases of COVID-19; screening at points of entry; and global and regional coordination.
Original source: USAID
Published on 18 March 2020
