US government supports Vietnam's to fight against COVID-19 with $4.5 million

The US and Vietnamese governments are providing mutual support to each other in funds and goods

According to the US Embassy in Vietnam, the US government is leading the world’s humanitarian and health response to the COVID-19 pandemic even as they battle the virus at home. As part of the comprehensive and generous response from the American people, the US has provided nearly $4.5 million in emergency health for the Vietnamese government to build laboratories, monitoring, detect infection cases, train health experts, and pursue communication activities.

Over the last 20 years, the US poured more than $1.8 billion into Vietnam, including $706 million in the health sector.

Several days ago, the US Embassy thanked Vietnam for sending medical face masks to the US. "Today, Ambassador Kritenbrink accepted a donation of 200,000 cloth masks from the government and people of Vietnam. He also accepted a donation of 50,000 masks from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. These masks will be used where they are most needed in the United States to fight COVID-19," the embassy posted on Facebook.

On April 16, at the headquarters of the Government Office, the government and people of Vietnam handed over medical supplies to the government and people of the US., while last week, 450,000 protective suits were sent to the US to help frontline healthcare professionals fight the global pandemic.

"This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companies – DuPont and FedEx – and our friends in Vietnam. Thank you," Trump tweeted on Thursday morning last week (April 9).

The US is expected to receive a total of 4.5 million such suits, made by DuPont in the northern city of Haiphong, in over a month, said the US Embassy in Vietnam.

The United States is now the worst-hit nation with more than 668,000 infections including almost 32,000 deaths. Over the world, the pandemic has killed around 144,000 people and infected to 2.2 million people as of April 17.

Total US government assistance in the global fight against COVID-19 provided to date includes nearly $200 million in emergency health assistance from USAID’s Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks and Global Health Programs account, nearly $195 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account, and $50 million from the Economic Support Funding (ESF), which will help governments and NGOs in more than 100 of the most affected and at-risk countries during this global pandemic.