A Kathmandu metropolitan city worker disinfects a street in the city during the coronavirus lockdown on May 19, 2021
Keystone / Narendra Shrestha
Switzerland is sending 30 tonnes of humanitarian supplies to Nepal, which is struggling to cope with a Covid-19 health crisis.
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AP/swissinfo.ch/ilj
“The consignment comprises 40 respirators provided free of charge by the Armed Forces Pharmacy, 10 oxygen concentrators purchased from private companies by Swiss Humanitarian Aid, 1.1 million antigen tests donated by the Federal Office of Public Health, and personal protective equipment (overalls and gloves),” the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statementExternal link on Friday.
The supplies, worth CHF7.5 million ($8.35 million), will be received in Kathmandu by officials from the Nepalese Ministry of Health, who will distribute them to hospitals and other health facilities, the statement continued.
Nepal is one of the priority countries of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which has so far allocated CHF12 million to help stop the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
Nepal has been recording its highest daily new cases and daily deaths this month, while struggling with shortages of hospital beds, medication and oxygen. The country has so far recorded 488,645 Covid-19 confirmed cases, while 5,847 people have died, AP has reported.
This latest Swiss consignment comes two weeks after 13 tonnes of respirators, oxygen concentrators and other supplies were shipped to Covid-stricken India, which shares a border with Nepal.
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