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| Office of the Civil Defense Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, and Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. at a handover of new cots donated by the United States government. |
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.