CARICOM Receives Protective Equipment to Fight COVID-19

Critically-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) will be delivered to medical workers on the front lines of the Caribbean’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

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The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), sent US$3 million worth of PPE to the Port of Bridgetown, Barbados. 

The shipments includes 35,000 protective suits, 111,000 isolation gowns,  67,000 goggles, 250,000 protective gloves and 160,000 masks.

"We are commited to help the Caribbean countries in their battle against COVID-19's effects," CDB President Warren Smith.

The coming months are going to be particularly challenging, given the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19. "To build resilience against the pandemic remains high on CDB’s development agenda,”  Smith said. 

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Executive Director Elizabeth Riley addressed how the region should overcome the pandemic while preparing for the potential onslaught of weather events.

"Overcoming these challenges is not an impossible task, but it must be carefully planned. Regional solidarity is essential for our states to successfully emerge from this crisis," Riley said. 

Caricom authorities reported that the PPE will be delivered to 14 CARICOM members, like Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Granada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines; Suriname; and Trinidad and Tobago.