Tripoli, Libya, 21 September 2020. Three WHO-chartered aircraft carrying COVID-19 supplies landed in Benghazi Airport, Libya, this week.

The supplies include personal protective equipment items such as gloves, masks, face shields, gowns, goggles, and coveralls for 2500 health workers for 4 months, including health workers in 114 rapid response teams, 24 COVID-19 labs, 30 triage and isolation centres, 150 primary health care centres and 10 specialist hospitals.

“WHO is grateful to the health care professionals who have worked so hard to treat COVID-19 and other patients in Libya. We are continuing to support health care facilities, isolation centres and triage units in the country and provide health workers with equipment to protect them against the disease”, said Ms Elizabeth Hoff, the WHO Representative in Libya.

Over the past few weeks, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Libya has more than doubled. In addition, community transmission has been reported in some of the country’s main cities. This emphasizes the importance of ensuring that Libya has adequate supplies of protective equipment for health workers caring for patients, especially those with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

The shipments were procured and airlifted using funds from the Government of Germany, the Government of Italy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).