Tashkent, May 18 -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has allocated a $1.36 million grant for Uzbekistan to procure medical equipment and supplies to support the country's efforts to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The grant will be used to procure personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and other medical supplies that will help to rapidly build up the capacity of the country's healthcare system.

The grant is drawn from a previously approved technical assistance-Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases-and adds to an initial $200,000 in technical assistance allocated to Uzbekistan to acquire medical supplies in March ...