| Project Detail |
Project Name COVID-19 Emergency Response
Project Number 54324-001
Country Regional
Bhutan
Maldives
Project Status Active
Project Type / Modality of Assistance Grant
Source of Funding / Amount
Grant 0715-REG: COVID-19 Emergency Response
APDRF Government of Japan for COVID19 US$ 2.00 million
Grant 0716-REG: COVID-19 Emergency Response
APDRF Government of Japan for COVID19 US$ 1.00 million
Strategic Agendas Environmentally sustainable growth
Inclusive economic growth
Drivers of Change Governance and capacity development
Sector / Subsector
Health / Disease control of communicable disease
Gender Equity and Mainstreaming No gender elements
Description
On 30 January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern. On 11 March 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Confirmed COVID-19 cases across South Asia are increasing. The first case in Bhutan was confirmed on 6 March 2020, when a foreign tourist tested positive on 3 March 2020. Until mid-May, positive cases remained below 10. Thereafter, the number of positive cases started increasing rapidly since Bhutanese returning from overseas, reaching 77 on 1 July 2020, of which 50 have recovered with no deaths. Due to stringent measures and lengthier quarantine requirement, i.e., 21 days, Bhutan successfully managed to avoid local transmission so far. In Maldives, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported the first case on 7 March 2020. As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Maldives capital Mal recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the first weeks following the first confirmed local transmission on April 15. As of 2 July 2020, the number of confirmed cases had reached 2,382. The country has recorded 1,954 recoveries and 9 deaths.
The health systems in both countries are severely strained by increased workload on health workers to carry out surveillance and testing, prioritization of health managers and frontline health workers in preparing for COVID-19 cases at the expense of other health system priorities, stockouts of infection control supplies, and disruptions to routine services including outreach services that are essential for maintaining primary health care.
The Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) grants will be used for (i) procurement of essential supplies, i.e., test kits and reagents, PPE, medical goods and supplies, acquire laboratory equipment; (ii) top-up of overtime salary, transportation, recruitment of emergency health workers and support laboratory experts; (iii) transport and supply-chain logistics; and (iv) any additional goods or supplies required for disease preparedness. |
