UK Sends Medical Equipment to Help Battle Coronavirus in Beirut

The UK Government has sent essential medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Beirut to help overstretched hospitals across Lebanon deal with coronavirus, the UK embassy reported in a press release on Thursday.

The delivery of 238,530 pieces of vital PPE on August 18 comes after a deadly explosion in the Lebanese capital earlier this month, which left thousands needing treatment and many more homeless.

Hospitals and clinics in the country, already struggling to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, were put under further strain by the explosion. 10 of the 17 containers destroyed by the explosion in Beirut’s port contained PPE and medical supplies, leading to a severe shortage.

To help tackle the emergency, the UK has donated PPE items, including face masks, coveralls, gloves, goggles and gowns. The supplies are not currently needed in the UK, and the Government has delivered billions of items of PPE to the UK health and care sectors in the course of the pandemic.

Increasing coronavirus cases threaten to make Lebanon’s economic recovery much harder. Providing medical supplies and PPE will help Lebanon tackle the pandemic and focus efforts on wider challenges like the economy and reconstruction in Beirut.

The items were transported from Luton Airport last night and will now be given to the World Health Organization to distribute to hospitals and healthcare services.

International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

“The devastating explosion in Beirut has caused a crisis within a crisis. The UK is sending urgent medical PPE to protect overstretched medics on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, who are now also having to treat victims of the blast.

“My thoughts remain with the people of Lebanon at this tremendously difficult time. We are doing everything we can to support them.”

British Ambassador Chris Rampling said:

“The tragic explosion at Beirut Port could not have come at a worse time, with the country in the depths of a socio-economic crisis and hospitals already overwhelmed by rising numbers of covid cases.

“This essential equipment will protect brave frontline workers tackling the pandemic across the country.

“The UK has stood with Lebanon for many years, and will continue to support it in its time of most urgent need.”

Lebanon recorded its highest daily number of deaths and new infections from coronavirus last week, taking the total number of infections to 9758 and deaths to 107 since the start of the country's outbreak.

Today’s support adds to the significant package of UK support, including:

-making £25 million of UK aid available to help the most vulnerable people in Lebanon meet their immediate survival needs;

-the deployment of a British team of specialist medics from the UK’s Emergency Medical Team to help assess health needs alongside humanitarian, logistics and military experts;

-the sending of HMS Enterprise to the Port of Beirut to assess its damage and help return it to normal; and

-sending the Defence Senior Adviser to the Middle East to Lebanon to discuss UK support with Lebanese counterparts, including support for the Lebanese Armed Forces.

In June, the UK provided $2 million to help Lebanon to tackle coronavirus.

The UK has also provided over $920 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon since 2011, recognising its immense generosity to over 1.5 million Syrian refugees.