(VOVWORLD) - The US Department of State on Tuesday issued a press release saying that the US will support ASEAN countries in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the document, since the outbreak began, the US government has provided approximately 18 million USD in emergency health and humanitarian assistance to ASEAN member states.
The US's new funding to ASEAN will include preparations of laboratories for large-scale testing for Covid-19, infection prevention and control, implementation of public-health emergency plans for border points of entry, and update of training materials for health workers.
Nearly 3 million USD in health assistance will help the Vietnamese government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in conjunction with the WHO provided training to 15 hospitals, and has held training courses for 63 provinces on Covid-19 surveillance, reporting, and sample collection. The CDC is supporting Vietnam in developing its National Infection Prevention and Control guidelines for Covid-19.