June 8, 2020, Tashkent, Uzbekistan — On June 5, the U.S. Embassy handed over essential reagents for COVID-19 testing to the Uzbekistan’s Agency of Sanitary and Epidemiological Wellbeing (ASEW) as part of the United States’ assistance to Uzbekistan to combat COVID-19.

“Working together with our partners in the Ministry of Health, we will improve detection, reduce the toll of this dangerous virus, and save lives in Uzbekistan,” said U.S. Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum.

This is the first set of testing supplies being donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The donation includes 60 boxes of QIAGEN RNA reagent, enough to conduct 15,000 tests. A second shipment consisting of 40 boxes of  QIAGEN RNA kits, enough for 10,000 tests, will arrive in Uzbekistan within a few weeks.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Health and ASEW, we express our gratitude to the United States for providing this assistance. These reagents will support our fight against COVID-19 and improve the health and well-being of our citizens,” said Ministry of Health ASEW Director Bahodir Yusupaliev.

USAID is providing $3.9 million to help Uzbekistan respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. This assistance is preparing laboratory systems for large-scale testing, preventing and controlling infections in healthcare facilities, improving COVID-19 surveillance and rapid response, enhancing case management of the infected, combatting disinformation about the virus, and engaging communities to work together.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. government has committed more than $1 billion in international assistance specifically aimed at fighting the pandemic. This funding will save lives by providing state-of-the-art ventilators, improving public health education, protecting healthcare workers, strengthening laboratory systems, supporting disease surveillance, and boosting rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries around the world.

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For more information about USAID’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19.