April 30, 2020
U.S. Government Provides Additional $2.6 Million for COVID-19 Response in El Salvador
The U.S. Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional $2.6 million in health assistance to help control the COVID-19 outbreak in El Salvador.
The new health assistance will provide critical medical supplies and equipment to the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, the establishment of a new, fully equipped testing laboratory in Santa Ana will be supported, and equipment and supplies for three other existing laboratories (two in San Salvador and one in San Miguel) that will help increase the number and quality of COVID-19 tests performed. This will allow an increase of up to 25% percent in the capacity of the number of tests that can be carried out.
With the new equipment, these labs will also be able to perform other tests, thus strengthening public health services. The provision of supplies complemented by training and support for infection prevention, control, and case management, as follows:
- Infection Prevention and Control includes equipment, supplies and training for healthcare workers to help contain the spread of COVID-19
- Surveillance, through improved data collection and analysis, will identify gaps and improve coverage and training
- Case Management will help identify positive or potentially positive cases and ensure safe and proper care and treatment
U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed that “this new donation is a continuation of U.S. cooperation with El Salvador to protect people and help with the response to COVID-19. As I have said many times that only together can we overcome this pandemic, and we continue to put our shoulder to the wheel. Count on our continued assistance.” To date, the U.S. Government has provided $5.4 million for direct COVID-19 assistance and delivered over 80,000 donations of food and hygiene kits, bedding, sanitizing gel, and protective equipment for people in quarantine and for those safeguarding the security and health of the population. According to recent estimates, donations and assistance provided by private US citizens for the global response to the virus, including assistance provided to El Salvador, have exceeded $3 billion dollars.
Additionally, the U.S. Government recently announced $66.5 million for El Salvador that will be used for security and economic programs to help the country recover from COVID-19.
Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested $2.6 billion in El Salvador’s long-term development, which included $111 million in health assistance for infant, child, and maternal health; the eradication of malaria; a national response to HIV/AIDs, and confronting the Zika epidemic.
