US donates PPEs worth R5.9m to SA

The Trump administration, through the US ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks, has expressed admiration of South Africa’s efforts to manage the threat of the Covid-19 and making medical care available to those in need of it.

Mark said South Africa could count on the US to continue to respond to its requests for equipment and expertise to keep South Africa winning the battle against the Covid-19 threat.

However, she cautioned: “While there are some signs that parts of South Africa may be past the Covid-19 peak, as President [Cyril] Ramaphosa and Minister [Zweli] Mkhize have said, we cannot let up.

“On behalf of the US government, we admire the work South Africans have done to manage the threat of Covid-19 in South Africa and to do its utmost to continue to make medical care available to those who need it.”

Marks was speaking on the sidelines of the delivery of a consignment of personal protective equipment at OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday.

Worth $340,000 (about R5.9-million), the equipment would target the Covid-19 ravaged provinces of Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The shipment, brought by the US Airforce from the US Africa Command (Africom) headquarters in Germany, comprised PPE such as face masks, gloves, medical gowns and sanitising supplies.

The US government had previously sent equipment and assistance worth $45 million for the country to respond to Covid-19.

The delivery coincided with an announcement by Ramaphosa the move to Level 2 of the lockdown and the fact that the country had reached its peak in most provinces.

He further announced that the ban on the sale of liquor and tobacco and interprovincial travel will fall away while international travel remained banned, among others.

“These supplies, donated by the American people, will benefit frontline health workers who continue to treat patients around the clock and who are engaged in contact tracing to contain the virus,” Marks said.

Most of the equipment had arrived and was installed in ICUs around the country, while the next shipment was expected soon.

The US support also included the provision of other oxygen therapies and related training; lab support and preparedness; community health care worker support; and water and sanitation projects.

The training and support was conducted by a team of US experts based in South Africa from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Agency for International Development, and the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief in Africa.

“Beyond Africom’s heroic delivery of these supplies today, I can also announce that Africom will support the set-up of hand washing stations in Limpopo, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu Natal – a contribution of an additional $225 000.

Throughout the response to Covid-19, the US department of defence has been a steady partner of South Africa, having already provided hundreds of thousands of protective masks to the national department of health and to the South African Military Health Service; as well as infrared thermometers and thousands of face shields manufactured locally by the Ford Motor Company.

“This delivery of lifesaving equipment, critically needed here in South Africa, shows how we can leverage the infrastructure of our strong defence cooperation to further bolster the US support to South Africa’s ongoing Covid-19 response,” Marks said.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.