40,000 face shields to be gifted to health workers, civil servants, other risk groups
The producing company meets local demand for protective gear with help from European Union and the United Nations Development Programme. Photo: CaucasPack
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Frontline health workers, local civil servants and other risk groups in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and the regions will receive a total of 40,000 protective face shields produced by Georgian company CaucasPack.
The first 16,000 face shields will be distributed this week as part of a joint programme of the European Union and the United Nations.
The EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said the local production “is vital for the economy”.
#EU is helping to provide additional 40,000 face masks produced in ???????? to healthcare and other front line workers dealing with the pandemic, together w/ ????????+???????? and @UNDPGeorgia.
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) May 5, 2020
➡️https://t.co/MNsV9K8fm0#TeamEurope #EU4Georgia #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/M4JMzPJDAv
CaucasPack produces face shields from recycled plastic bottles, which are adjustable and reusable.
In normal times, it produces plastic cups and food containers. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CaucasPack has adjusted its production lines to make face shields, thus keeping 99 employees.
These face shields are made from recycled plastic bottles by a Georgian company which rose to the #COVID19 challenge & saved jobs for 99 workers.
— UNDP in Georgia (@UNDPGeorgia) May 5, 2020
Our partnership with @EUinGeorgia helps people #staysafe during the pandemic, rescuing jobs & livelihoods ???? https://t.co/9QzhCQ62cE pic.twitter.com/w5nistEd6m
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Head Louisa Vinton said the CaucasPack “is just one example of how local producers have stepped up to provide the protective gear” that health workers and civil servants “need to stay safe” during the pandemic.
In the coming weeks, UNDP in partnership with the governments of Switzerland and Austria will purchase another 23,000 shields for 23 municipalities that have been hit the most by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Georgian start-up Doctor Goods has produced 40,000 medical gowns in a week to address the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, Georgia has 79 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, including eleven individuals who have recovered.
Georgia will participate in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) international clinical trial to help find an effective treatment for COVID-19, and will receive access to four experimental medicines used in the process, Deputy Health Minister of Georgia Tamar Gabunia told Rustavi 2 earlier today.
Slovakia has allocated €44,198.05 for five projects for Georgia aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, announces the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Georgia.
Six Georgian textile companies have produced one million face masks in the last two weeks in an effort to help stem the spread of the new coronavirus. Two more companies will also start the production from Monday.
More people have recovered than were infected with COVID-19 in Georgia over the past several days. Georgia has reported six new cases of coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 610. 269 of the 610 patients have recovered, while nine others have died. As of today 330 people remain infected with coronavirus in Georgia, while the number stood at 353 yesterday. Head of the National Disease Control Centre of Georgia Amiran Gamkrelidze says that Georgia is hitting the seventh week since the first reported case of community transmission of the virus on March 23.
Georgia has allocated 89,900,000 GEL (about $28.09m/€26.02m) for the implementation of a health programme for 2020 to manage COVID-19. Quarantine spaces, except for the Abastumani Lung Center, will receive not more than 100 GEL per day for each beneficiary.
Georgian doctors have used plasmapheresis, a method of treating blood plasma, to cure a COVID-19 patient who was in critical condition.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is providing an additional $3 million in assistance to the Georgian healthcare system in response to COVID-19.The US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, said that the CDC has been supporting Georgia to prepare for and response to the pandemic since January.
The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a GEL 9 million grant programme together with the Georgian Agriculture and Rural Development Agency (ARDA) to help Georgia’s rural regions respond to the economic and social challenges amid the coronavirus crisis.
UNDP Head in Georgia Louisa Vinton says Georgia’s response to the pandemic has undoubtedly saved lives and it will be studied in the future as a best practice. "But here, as everywhere in the world, COVID-19 has also exposed social vulnerabilities and economic imbalances. The UNDP therefore welcomes the resolve of Georgia’s leaders to go beyond ‘business as usual’ to design a recovery plan that builds on the positives and neutralizes the negatives to map out a path to a green, fair and inclusive future”, said Vinton.
Georgian frontline health workers have received 7,500 protective face shields produced by Georgian company CaucasPack from the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme. UNDP, with assistance from the EU and the US, is also ensuring that protective equipment and other medical supplies are provided to Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia ‘to mitigate COVID-19 risks’.