Germany has provided Nepal with protective gears in a bid to contain the rapid surge of COVID-19 infections.
Germany has supported Nepal with 112 ventilators, 2,068,500 K95 masks, 29,000 pulse oximeters, 34,030,000 surgical masks, five isolation centre tents, 400 gum boots, 25,000 litres of hand disinfectants, among others items.
The first shipment of COVID-aid arrived on Tuesday and German Ambassador to Nepal Roland Schäfer handed over the materials to Minister of Health and Population Sher Bahadur Tamang at Tribhuvan International Airport.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Tamang conveyed the gratitude of the Government and people of Nepal to the Government and people of Germany for their generous support and stated the materials would be critical in containing the surge of COVID-19 cases and treatment of affected people.
In recent weeks, Nepal has received a series of shipments as COVID-aid from EU member states (Spain, Finland, France and Belgium) and more are to come.
The shipment from Germany is also facilitated through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in response to the Government of Nepal’s call for support.
“We also need more vaccines, to make us all safe. The EU has already exported 240 million doses to 90 countries, which is about as much as we have used within the EU. And the European industrial partners have committed to deliver 1.3 billion doses of vaccines before the end of 2021 to low-income countries at no-profit and to middle-income countries at lower prices. Nepal should be able to receive or purchase its share of vaccines by the end of the year,” Ambassador Schäfer said.
Listed below are the grants provided by various nations and organizations to Nepal in its fight against COVID-19:
3.2 MILLION VACCINES
Nepal has so far received COVID-19 vaccines as grant from China, India and COVAX.
China has provided 1.8 million doses of vaccine to Nepal twice as a grant. India donated 1 million Covishield vaccines. The Indian Army has donated 100,000 doses to the Nepal Army. As many as 348,000 doses were received the COVAX Facility.
537 VENTILATORS
Nepal as received most ventilators as grant from the United Arab Emirates. UAE has provided 150 units of BiPAP machines. Similarly, UK has provided 130 BiPAP machines and Singapore has provided 100 such machines. On Tuesday alone, Germany provided 62 ventilators, according to the Foreign Ministry.
According to the Ministry, the Swiss Embassy in Nepal has provided 40 ventilators, Temasek Pride PTE Limited in Singapore has provided 20 ventilators, Spain 15, France 14, Tibet Santong China 5 and One Heart Worldwide has provided 1 ventilator.
1,710 OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS
TZU CHI Foundation has provided Nepal with 765 oxygen concentrators, One Heart Worldwide 350, Japan 160, Direct Relief 129, UNICEF 100, IME Foundation 60, Thailand 54 and Karuna Foundation has given 35 as grant.
Similarly, Swiss Embassy in Nepal, Ncell, Spain, UK, UK have provided 7 oxygen concentrators each to Nepal government.
6,500 OXYGEN CYLINDERS
Nepal government has so far received 6,245 oxygen cylinders as grant from various countries.
The Chinese government provided 2,000 oxygen cylinders, China Culture Medical Group 1,500, FHI Three City 1,000, Tibet Shantong China 800, NRNA Oman 560, World Vision International 100, Confederation of Naples Industries (CNI) 85 and Spain 50.
Similarly, Tibet Autonomous Region has provided 150 units of liquid oxygen cylinders.
1.245 MILLION ANTIGEN TEST KITS
According to the government data, Nepal has so far received 1.245 million antigen test kits from various countries and organizations. The Swiss Embassy in Nepal provided 1.1 million antigen kits, Spain 124,800 and France 20,225.
OVER 7.5 MILLION MASKS
Various countries and organizations have also provided N-95 masks to Nepal. Countries including France, Spain and Switzerland have provided a total of 758,000 N-95 masks. According to government data, Nepal has also received 7.5 million surgical masks so far.
