US CDC commits 3.6 million to assist India's response to the COVID pandemic

In order to aid India's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, US Embassy announced that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was committing $3.6 million to assist India. This contribution was being done to assist India in its effort to strengthen the laboratory testing capacity for COVID in the country, said the official release. The US Embassy added that these funds will be used to support the development of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) centres in a bid to improve the ability of hospital networks to detect COVID-19 as well. 

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"These resources will support prevention, preparedness, and response activities in India. This initial tranche of funding will seek to further strengthen and support the Government of India's efforts to increase laboratory capacity for SARS-COV-2 testing, including molecular diagnostics and serology," US Embassy in India said in a release. "The CDC will work with local partners to assist in the development of a strong public health workforce to support India's capacity to respond not only to this pandemic but to future threats as well," the release added. 

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Since the onset of the outbreak in January, CDC's India Office has been collaborating with the central government institutes to help strengthen India's response to COVID-19. The Embassy revealed that such collaboration efforts were focused on "lab strengthening, infection prevention and control, health workforce development, emergency management, risk communication, and community engagement." 

The CDC has also conducted trainings across India for healthcare administrators, physicians, nurses, and hospital staff, as per the release. These trainings were done to prepare healthcare professionals along the lines of preparedness and response, infection prevention and control, laboratory operations, and field epidemiology

The death toll due to Coronavirus has risen to 2,293 and the number of cases climbed to 70,756 in the country, as per the latest numbers from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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(With ANI Inputs)