DHAKA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved 300,000 U.S. dollars emergency grant to support the Bangladesh government's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant will support procurement of health safety materials including personal protective gears, N95 masks, safety goggles, aprons, thermometers, and biohazard bags, the Manila-based lender said in a statement received here Saturday.

The list has been prioritized by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh. The materials will help the government to strengthen its efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the country.

The grant assistance is sourced from the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance entitled "Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases".

"ADB is fully committed to supporting Bangladesh in the fight to control COVID-19, and this is only the first of the planned support that ADB is preparing to help the Government deal with this difficult situation," said Country Director Manmohan Parkash.

This assistance will invigorate Bangladesh's ability to strengthen prevention, improve health professionals' protection from the disease, test people to detect infection, manage severe cases, and reduce the risk of the deadly virus' mass transmission."

"We are working tirelessly to put together further assistance in the health and financial sectors," Country Director Mr. Parkash added.

In face of a threat of a coronavirus outbreak, Bangladesh government has taken various actions and adopted measures in line with the World Health Organization's recommendations.

On March 18, 2020, ADB announced a 6.5-billion U.S. dollars initial package to address the immediate needs of its developing member countries as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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