Arab News

DUBAI: The World Bank has approved a $20 million project to help Jordan respond to the health impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, state news agency Petra reported.

The new COVID-19 Emergency Response project will support the Ministry of Health’s efforts in preventing, detecting and responding to the threat posed by the pandemic.

This fast-track assistance package falls under the $6 billion COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Program approved by the World Bank’s executive directors earlier this month to strengthen the responses of developing countries to the pandemic.

“Jordan is affected by a pandemic whose impacts expand beyond the health sector and cause an economic slowdown and weaker growth prospects,” Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Mashreq Regional Director, said.

The regional director said that supporting Jordan’s ability to face the coronavirus health crisis is crucial to prevent a set-back in the significant improvements in health outcomes the has achieved over the past two decades.

“Jordan was one of the first countries in the region, if not the world, to take early and strict measures to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Wissam Rabadi said.

Rabadi added that despite the decline in the number of cases in the country, Jordan will require support to maintain efforts to ensure the outbreak is properly contained and avoid a new surge in numbers as the country begins to relax its strict measures.

The project will provide support to enhance case detection, testing, recording and reporting, as well as contact tracing, risk assessment and clinical care management over the next two years.

The plan, which was prepared with WHO, will be updated periodically to identify financial requirements for several outbreak scenarios.