AKIPRESS.COM - Last week, ICAP at Columbia University, the partner organization of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began delivering $652,000 worth of laboratory supplies and equipment to healthcare facilities in Bishkek, Naryn, and Osh cities and the At-Bashy district of the Kyrgyz Republic, US Embassy said. 

The donated supplies will be used to conduct tests for COVID-19. This contribution is expected to raise the Kyrgyz Republic’s COVID-19 testing capability by 2700 tests per day.

“This is a long-term investment,” said CDC Central Asia Director Dr. Daniel Singer. “The donated equipment will not only help the country fight the current pandemic but will keep helping it to fight the spread of other infectious diseases in the future.” The equipment delivery includes ten cutting edge PCR Thermal Cyclers, at a total value of more than $300,000 which can utilize a wide range of different test systems produced by third party manufacturers, significantly increasing the Kyrgyz Republic’s COVID-19 testing capacity.

This latest donation is part of the $1.38 million worth of support pledged by CDC to support the Kyrgyz Republic in combating the COVID-19 epidemic. From high capacity oxygen concentrators to cutting edge epidemiological analysis software, the United States is providing more than $5 Million USD in support from USAID, CDC and the U.S. State Department.

CDC Central Asia has been supporting the ministries of health in Central Asia since the beginning of the outbreak by organizing trainings and providing technical assistance on emergency operations, laboratory operations, infection prevention and control, screening at ports of entry, risk communication and community engagement, and disease surveillance. CDC is also translating technical guidance documents published by leading international public health organizations into Russian for distribution.