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U.S Department Of State
Office Of the Spokesperson
April 16, 2020
The U.S. Government is leading the world’s humanitarian and health response to the COVID-19 pandemic even while we battle the virus at home. As part of this comprehensive and generous response from the American people, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have now committed nearly $508 million in emergency health, humanitarian, and economic assistance on top of the funding we already provide to multilateral and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are helping communities around the world deal with the pandemic. This funding will support critical activities to control the spread of this disease, such as rapid public-health information campaigns, water and sanitation, and preventing and controlling infections in health-care facilities.
Total U.S. government assistance in the global fight against COVID-19 provided to date includes nearly $200 million in emergency health assistance from USAID’s Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks and Global Health Programs account, nearly $195 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account, and $50 million from the Economic Support Funding (ESF), which will help governments and NGOs in more than 100 of the most affected and at-risk countries during this global pandemic. In addition, through the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which is responsible for the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account, we now have a country-by-country breakout of the previously announced $64 million in humanitarian assistance for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to address threats posed by the pandemic in existing humanitarian crisis situations for some of the world’s most vulnerable people as part of the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19.
U.S. government departments and agencies are working together to prioritize foreign assistance based on in-country coordination and the potential for impact. With new and previously announced funds, the United States is providing the following specific assistance:
Africa:
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Angola: $570,000 in health assistance is helping provide risk-communications and water and sanitation, and prevent and control infections in key health facilities in Angola. This assistance comes on top of long-term U.S. investments in Angola, which total $1.48 billion over the past 20 years, including $613 million in health assistance.
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Botswana: $1.5 million in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance builds on nearly $1.2 billion in total assistance in Botswana over the last 20 years, $1.1 billion of which was for health.
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Burkina Faso: More than $6 million in health and humanitarian funding will go toward risk-communications, water and sanitation, preventing and controlling infections in health facilities, public-health messaging, and more. This includes $2.5 million in health assistance, $1.5 million in IDA humanitarian assistance, and more than $2.1 million in MRA humanitarian assistance, which will help protect the health of refugees, internally displaced persons, and their host communities in Burkina Faso during the pandemic. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than more than $2.4 billion total in Burkina Faso, $222 million in health alone.
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Cameroon: Nearly $8 million in health and humanitarian assistance will help provide infection-control in key health facilities, strengthen laboratories and surveillance, prepare communities, and bolster local messaging. This includes $6.1 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance from USAID, in addition to nearly $1.9 million in MRA humanitarian assistance to support refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and their host communities. This assistance builds upon more than $960 million in total U.S. investment in the country over the past 20 years, $390 million of which was in health.
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Central African Republic: $5.2 million in humanitarian assistance, including $3.5 million in IDA humanitarian assistance that will go toward risk-communications, preventing and controlling infections in health facilities, and safe water supply, and $1.7 million in MRA humanitarian assistance that will help protect the health of refugees, internally displaced persons, and their host communities in the Central African Republic during the pandemic. The U.S. Government has provided $822.6 million in total in the Central African Republic over the last 20 years, including $4.5 million in emergency health assistance in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.
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Republic of Congo (ROC): $250,000 in health assistance will address the outbreak. The United States has invested in the Republic of Congo for decades, with more than $171.2 million in total U.S. assistance for the ROC over the last 20 years, $36.8 million of which was for health assistance.
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Chad: More than $3 million in humanitarian assistance, including $1 million in IDA for preventing and controlling infections in health facilities, raising community awareness of COVID-19, and improving hygiene, and more than $2 million in MRA humanitarian assistance to help protect the health of refugees and their host communities in Chad during the pandemic. This new assistance builds upon the foundation of nearly $2 billion in total U.S. assistance over the last 20 years, including more than $30 million in health assistance.
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Côte d’Ivoire: $1.6 million in health assistance to address the outbreak. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $2.1 billion in long-term development and other assistance in Côte d’Ivoire.
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Democratic Republic of the Congo: $14.4 million, including $14.0 million in health assistance and IDA humanitarian assistance that will improve the prevention and control of infections in health facilities, and support improved awareness of COVID-19, including by working with religious leaders and journalists on risk-communication messaging. An additional $400,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will help protect the health of refugees, internally displaced persons, and their host communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the pandemic. This builds upon more than $6.3 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including nearly $37 million in health.
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Djibouti: $500,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. The United States has already invested more than $338 million total in Djibouti over the last 20 years.
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Eswatini: $750,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. Funds will go to bolstering Eswatini’s emergency health response, which may include commodity procurement, contact tracing, laboratory diagnostics, and raising public awareness. This assistance builds upon the foundation of U.S. assistance in Eswatini, which totals more than $529 million in total assistance over the last 20 years, including more than $490 million in health assistance.
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Ethiopia: More than $9 million in assistance to counter COVID-19, including $8.3 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance for risk-communications, the prevention and control of infections in health facilities, disease-surveillance, contact-tracing, and coordination; and $789,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance for refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and their host communities. This assistance is in addition to the United States’ long-term investments in Ethiopia of more than $13 billion in total assistance, nearly $4 billion in health alone, over the past 20 years.
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Ghana: $1.6 million in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance builds upon $3.8 billion in total U.S. assistance to Ghana over the last 20 years, including nearly $914 million in health assistance.
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Guinea: $500,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. The United States has invested nearly $1 billion in total assistance for Guinea over the last 20 years, including $365.5 million in health assistance.
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Kenya: Nearly $4.5 million in health and humanitarian assistance, including $3.5 million in health assistance to bolster risk communication, prepare health-communication networks and media for a possible case, and help provide public health messaging for media, health workers, and communities; and $947,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance for refugees and host communities. This COVID-19 specific assistance comes on top of long-term U.S. investment in Kenya, which totals $3.8 billion in total U.S. assistance to Kenya over the last 20 years, including $6.7 billion in health assistance alone.
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Madagascar: $2.5 million in health assistance to address the outbreak. The United States has invested more than $1.5 billion in total assistance for Madagascar over the last 20 years, including nearly $722 million in health assistance alone.
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Malawi: $4.5 million in health assistance to address the outbreak. The United States has provided more than $3.6 billion in total assistance for Malawi over the past 20 years, including more than $1.7 billion in health assistance.
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Mali: $5.7 million in assistance for COVID-19 response includes $4.4 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance for risk communication, infection prevention and control, and coordination, and nearly $1.3 million in MRA humanitarian assistance to support refugees, internally displaced persons, and their host communities in Mali during the pandemic. This new assistance builds upon decades of U.S. investments in Mali, which totals more than $3.2 billion in total assistance over the last 20 years, including more than $807 million in health assistance.
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Mauritania: $250,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. The United States has provided more than $424 million in total assistance over the last 20 years for Mauritania, including more than $27 million in health, building a strong foundation for their pandemic response.
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Mauritius: $500,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance builds upon the foundation of more than $13 million in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including $838,000 in health assistance.
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Mozambique: $5.8 million in health and IDA humanitarian funding will help provide risk communication, water and sanitation, and infection prevention and control in key health facilities in Mozambique. The United States has invested nearly $6 billion total investment over the past 20 years, including development and other assistance, including more than $3.8 billion in health assistance.
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Lesotho: $750,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance builds upon decades of U.S. investments in Lesotho, which totals more than $1 billion in total assistance over the last 20 years, including more than $834 million in health assistance.
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Liberia: $1 million in health assistance will provide critical aid for all 12 Liberian counties (emergency operation centers, training, contact tracing, hospitals, and community health services), support quarantine efforts, and provide community level support. The United States has helped lay a strong foundation for Liberia’s COVID-19 response through more than $4 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $675 million in health assistance.
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Namibia: $750,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance comes in addition to nearly $1.5 billion in total U.S. assistance to Namibia over the past 20 years, including more than $970.5 million in long-term health assistance.
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Niger: Nearly $4 million in assistance includes nearly $2.8 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance for risk communication, infection prevention and control, and coordination, and $1.2 million in MRA humanitarian assistance will support refugees and their host communities in Niger during the pandemic. This assistance comes on top of more than $2 billion in total U.S. assistance for Niger in the past 20 years, nearly $233 million in health assistance alone.
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Nigeria: Approximately $21.4 million in assistance includes nearly $20 million in health and IDA humanitarian funding for risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination, and more than $1.4 million in MRA humanitarian assistance for refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and their host communities. This assistance joins more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years, including more than $5.2 billion in U.S. health assistance.
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Rwanda: More than $2 million in assistance for Rwanda’s COVID-19 response includes $1.7 million in health assistance that will help with surveillance and case management efforts in response to COVID-19, and $474,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance to support UNHCR’s COVID-19 response for refugees and host communities in Rwanda. This comes on top of long-term U.S. investment in Rwanda totaling more than $2.6 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $1.5 billion in health.
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Senegal: $3.9 million in health assistance to support risk communication, water and sanitation, infection prevention and control, public health messaging, and more. In Senegal, the U.S. has invested nearly $2.8 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, nearly $880 million in health alone.
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Sierra Leone: $400,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. This assistance joins decades of U.S. investments in Sierra Leone, totaling more than $5.2 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, including nearly $260 million in health assistance.
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Somalia: Nearly $12.5 million in assistance for COVID-19 response includes $11.6 million in IDA humanitarian assistance to support risk communication, infection prevention and control, and case management, and more, as well as $892,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance to support UNHCR’s COVID-19 response in Somalia. This assistance comes in addition to $5.3 billion in total assistance for Somalia over the last 20 years, including nearly $30 million in health alone.
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South Africa: Approximately $8.4 million in health assistance to counter COVID-19 will support risk communication, water and sanitation, infection prevention and control, public health messaging, and more. This assistance joins more than $8 billion in total assistance by the United States for South Africa in the past 20 years, nearly $6 billion invested in health alone.
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South Sudan: $13.1 million in assistance for South Sudan’s COVID-19 response includes $11.5 million in IDA humanitarian assistance for case management, infection prevention and control, logistics, coordination efforts, risk communication, and water, sanitation and hygiene programs, and nearly $1.6 million in MRA humanitarian assistance will support refugees, internally displaced persons, and their host communities in South Sudan during the pandemic. This funding builds upon past U.S. investments in South Sudan totaling $6.4 billion for South Sudan over the past 20 years, including more than $405 million in health.
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Sudan: Nearly $13.7 million in assistance includes $13 million in IDA humanitarian assistance for risk communication, case management, disease surveillance, infection prevention and control, and water, sanitation and hygiene programs, and $671,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance to support refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and their host communities. The United States has invested more than $3 million in health and more than $1.6 billion in total assistance for Sudan over the last 20 years.
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Tanzania: $1.4 million in health assistance supports risk communication, water and sanitation, infection prevention and control, public health messaging, and more. The United States has invested more than $7.5 billion total for Tanzania over the past 20 years, nearly $4.9 billion in health alone.
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Uganda: $3.6 million in assistance includes $2.3 million in health assistance to address the outbreak and nearly $1.3 million in MRA humanitarian assistance will support refugees and their host communities in Uganda during the pandemic. This assistance is provided in addition to the nearly $8 billion in total U.S. assistance for Uganda over the last 20 years and $4.7 billion in health assistance alone.
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Zambia: $3.4 million in health assistance supports risk communication, water and sanitation, infection prevention and control, public health messaging, and more. This new assistance joins $4.9 billion total U.S. assistance for Zambia over the past 20 years, nearly $3.9 billion in U.S. health assistance alone.
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Zimbabwe: Nearly $3 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance will help to prepare laboratories for large-scale testing, support case-finding activities for influenza-like illnesses, implement a public-health emergency plan for points of entry, and more. This new assistance builds on a history of U.S. investments in Zimbabwe – nearly $3 billion total over the past 20 years, nearly $1.2 billion in health assistance.
Europe and Eurasia:
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Albania: $1.2 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. Over the last 20 years, the United States has invested more than $693 million in total assistance to Albania, including more than $51.8 million in health assistance.
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Armenia: $1.7 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. The United States has invested more than $1.57 billion in total assistance to Armenia over the past 20 years, including nearly $106 million in health assistance.
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Azerbaijan: $1.7 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $894 million in total assistance to Azerbaijan, including nearly $41 million in health assistance.
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Belarus: $1.3 million in health funding is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This new assistance comes on top of decades of U.S. investment in Belarus, totaling more than $301 million in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including nearly $1.5 million in health assistance.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina: $1.2 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. The United States has invested more than $1.1 billion in total assistance for Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past 20 years, including $200,000 in health assistance.
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Bulgaria: $500,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance builds on longstanding U.S. assistance for Bulgaria, which totals more than $558 million in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $6 million in health assistance.
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Georgia: $1.7 million in health funding is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. The United States has provided more than $3.6 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including nearly $139 million in health assistance.
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Greece: $500,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts for migrants and refugees in Greece. This new assistance builds upon a foundation of U.S. support for Greece, which totals more than $202 million in total U.S. assistance over the last 20 years, including nearly $1.8 million in health assistance.
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Italy:S. support will include $50 million in economic assistance implemented by USAID to bolster Italy’s COVID-19 response. USAID will expand and supplement the work of public international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and faith-based groups responding to the pandemic in Italy and mitigating its social and community impact. USAID will also purchase health commodities that are not required for the U.S. domestic response; and work to support Italian companies engaged in developing and producing medical equipment and supplies for COVID-19.
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Kosovo: $1.1 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This assistance to combat COVID-19 is in addition to long-term U.S. investments which total over $772 million in total assistance in Kosovo over the past 20 years, including more than $10 million in health assistance.
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Moldova: $1.2 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This COVID-19 assistance builds upon U.S. investments of more than $1 billion in total assistance, which includes nearly $42 million in health assistance over the past 20 years.
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Montenegro: $300,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. This new assistance joins long-term U.S. investment in Montenegro totaling more than $332 million, including more than $1 million for health assistance.
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North Macedonia: $1.1 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $738 million in total assistance for North Macedonia, including nearly $11.5 million in health assistance.
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Romania: $800,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak. In addition, the U.S. Government fully funded a NATO operation to transport PPE from South Korea to Romania, and U.S. military personnel were members of air crews manning two other flights delivering PPE to Romania using the NATO-supported Strategic Airlift Capability. The United States has invested in Romania for decades, totaling nearly $700 million in total U.S. assistance in the last 20 years, including more than $55 million in health assistance.
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Serbia: $1.2 million in health assistance is helping: expand testing, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance; deploy additional technical expertise for response and preparedness; bolster risk communication and community engagement; and improve hygiene practices in the home. In addition, USAID/Serbia has also redirected $150,000 to provide food and other essential support to Serbia’s most vulnerable families and groups, including the elderly. The United States has invested more than $1 billion in total assistance to Serbia over the past 20 years, including nearly $5.4 million in health assistance.
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Turkey: $800,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts for refugees and their host communities in Turkey. This new funding is in addition to the $18 million for Syrian refugee assistance inside Turkey announced March 3, and builds upon nearly $1.4 billion in total U.S. assistance to Turkey over the past 20 years, including more than $3 million in health assistance, helping lay the foundation for the current response.
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Ukraine: $9.1 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance will help prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. Assistance will also prevent and control infection at targeted health facilities; and support water, sanitation and hygiene interventions for the most vulnerable populations in Donetsk and Luhansk. The United States has invested nearly $5 billion in total assistance to Ukraine over the past 20 years, including nearly $362 million in health assistance.
Asia:
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Afghanistan: More than $18 million in total U.S. assistance for Afghanistan’s COVID-19 response includes more than $5.6 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance to support detection and treatment of COVID-19 for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and nearly $2.4 million in MRA humanitarian assistance for Afghan returnees. This also includes $10 million in existing resources the United States Has redirected to support the United Nations Emergency Response Plan for COVID-19. This support will include surveillance, lab improvements, case management, infection prevention and control, community engagement, and technical assistance to the Government of Afghanistan.
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Bangladesh: Nearly $9.6 million in assistance includes $4.4 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance to help with case management, surveillance activities, infection prevention and control, risk communication, and water, sanitation, and hygiene programs, and $5.2 million in MRA humanitarian assistance to support refugees and their host communities in Bangladesh during the pandemic. This builds upon nearly $4 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, which includes more than $1 billion in health assistance alone.
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Bhutan: $500,000 in health assistance will strengthen diagnostic laboratory capabilities and clinical case management, provide virtual training for health care providers and lab personnel, and support risk communications materials. This assistance builds upon more than $6.5 million in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including $847,000 in health assistance.
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Burma: Approximately $4.1 million in health and $3 million in IDA humanitarian funding goes toward COVID-19 infection prevention and control, case management, laboratory system strengthening, risk communications and community engagement, as well as water and sanitation supplies, including assistance to IDP camps that are facing shortages. This assistance comes on top of long-term U.S. investment in Burma including more than $1.3 billion in total U.S. assistance, which includes more than $176 million in health assistance, over the past 20 years.
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Cambodia: Approximately $4 million in health assistance is helping the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, communicate risk, support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more. The United States has invested long-term in Cambodia, providing more than $1.6 billion in total assistance, which includes more than $730 million in health assistance, over the past 20 years.
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India: Nearly $5.9 million in health assistance to help India slow the spread of COVID-19, provide care for the affected, disseminate essential public health messages to communities, strengthen case finding and surveillance, and mobilize innovative financing mechanisms for emergency preparedness and response to this pandemic. This builds on a foundation of nearly $2.8 billion in total assistance, which includes more than $1.4 billion in health assistance, the United States has provided to India over the last 20 years.
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Indonesia: Nearly $5 million includes more than $4.5 million in health assistance to help the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more. It also includes $400,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance. The United States has invested more than $5 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $1 billion in health assistance.
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Kazakhstan: More than $1.6 million in health assistance will help prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This new assistance builds upon U.S. investments of more than more than $2 billion in total assistance over the last 20 years, including $86 million in health assistance.
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Kyrgyzstan: Approximately $900,000 in health assistance will help prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. The United States has invested nearly $1.2 billion in total assistance for Kyrgyzstan over the past 20 years, including more than $120 million in health assistance.
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Laos: Nearly $3.5 million in health assistance is helping the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more. This assistance builds upon U.S. investment in Laos over time, including more than $348 million total over the past decade, of which nearly $92 million was health assistance.
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Malaysia: $200,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts for refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia. This assistance builds upon a foundation of decades of U.S. investment in Malaysia, totaling more than $288 million in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $3.6 million in health assistance.
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Mongolia: Nearly $1.2 million in health assistance is helping the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more. The United States has invested more than $1 billion in total assistance for Mongolia over the past 20 years, including nearly $106 million in health.
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Nepal: $1.8 million in health assistance is helping the government to conduct community-level risk communications, prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more. Over the past 20 years, U.S. investment in Nepal totals more than $2 billion, including more than $603 million in health alone.
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Pacific Islands: $3.3 million total includes $2.3 million in health assistance which is helping governments prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, and $1 million in IDA humanitarian assistance to support risk communication, infection prevention and control, logistics, coordination efforts, and more. Over the last 20 years, the United States has invested over $5.21 billion in assistance to the Pacific Islands. Over the last decade, the United States has invested more than $620 million in health assistance alone for the Pacific Islands.
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Papua New Guinea: $1.2 million in health assistance for Papua New Guinea is helping the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. The United States has invested over $108 million total in Papua New Guinea over the past 20 years, including more than $52 million in health alone.
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Pakistan: $9.4 million in new funding for Pakistan’s COVID-19 response includes $7 million in health assistance to help Pakistan strengthen monitoring and better prepare communities to identify potential outbreaks. In addition, $2.4 million in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts for refugees in Pakistan. To bolster its national COVID-19 action plan, the United States has also redirected more than $1 million in existing funding for training of healthcare providers and other urgent needs. S. long-term investment in Pakistan over the past 20 years includes more than $18.4 billion in total assistance, which includes $1.1 billion in health alone.
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Philippines: More than $6 million in health and $2.8 million in IDA humanitarian assistance will help support laboratory and specimen-transport systems, intensify case-finding and event-based surveillance, support Philippine and international technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, handwashing and hygiene promotion, community-level preparedness and response, and more. The United States has invested more than $4.5 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, which includes $582 million in the Philippines’ health alone.
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Sri Lanka: $1.3 million in health assistance is helping the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. Over the past 20 years, U.S. investment in Sri Lanka has included more than $1 billion in total assistance, which includes $26 million in health alone.
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Tajikistan: Approximately $866,000 in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This assistance builds on U.S. investments of more than $1 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, which includes nearly $125 million in health
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Thailand: More than $2.7 million in health assistance will help the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. This new assistance builds upon long-term U.S. assistance in Thailand including more than $1 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, which includes nearly $213 million in health
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Turkmenistan: Approximately $920,000 in health assistance has been made available to help prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. Over the past 20 years, the United States has collaborated closely with the Government of Turkmenistan and local partners to implement bilateral and regional programs totaling more than $201 million, including over $21 million in health assistance, over the past 20 years.
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Timor-Leste: $1.1 million in health assistance is helping the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. The United States has invested more than $542 million in total assistance for Timor-Leste since independence in 2002, including nearly $70 million in health assistance.
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Uzbekistan: Approximately $848,000 in health funding is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This COVID-19 response assistance builds upon long-term U.S. investment of more than $1 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $122 million in health assistance.
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Vietnam: Nearly $4.5 million in health assistance to help the government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for preparedness and response, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $1.8 billion in total assistance for Vietnam, including more than $706 million in health assistance.
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Regional Efforts in Asia: $800,000 in health assistance is helping governments across the region prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. The United States has provided more than $226 million in health assistance regionally in addition to health assistance to individual countries in the region, and in total more than $3 billion in development and other assistance over the last 20 years.
Latin America and the Caribbean:
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Belize: $300,000 in health assistance to address the outbreak and improve operational capacity and case management. This new assistance builds upon past U.S. investment in Belize, which totals more than $120 million over the past 20 years, including nearly $12 million in health assistance.
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Bolivia: $750,000 in health assistance to build capacity in COVID-19 diagnostics and improve epidemiological surveillance. This new assistance joins long-term U.S. investment in Bolivia, including nearly $2 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, which includes $200 million in health assistance.
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The Eastern and Southern Caribbean: $1.7 million in previously announced funding is helping 10 countries in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean scale up their risk communication efforts, water and sanitation, prevent and control infections, manage COVID-19 cases, strengthen laboratories, and surveil the spread of the virus. This builds upon decades of strategic U.S. investment in the region, including more than $840 million total over the past 20 years, which includes $236 million in health.
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Colombia: More than $10.4 million in humanitarian assistance for Colombia’s COVID-19 response includes $8.5 million in previously announced IDA humanitarian assistance that is helping surveil the spread of the virus, provide water and sanitation supplies, manage COVID-19 cases, and more; and $1.9 million in MRA humanitarian assistance, which will support efforts to help refugees and their host communities in Colombia during the pandemic. Additionally, the United States has already redirected $6 million to address COVID-19-related impacts on the public health system, support mayors and communities to prevent the spread of the virus, and offer legal and psychosocial support to victims of domestic violence. In Colombia, the United States has invested nearly $12 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, which includes approximately $32.5 million in health assistance.
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Dominican Republic: $1.4 million in previously announced health assistance to address the outbreak. The funding will support epidemiological analysis and forecasting, identification and follow-up of contact tracing, as well as pandemic surveillance. The United States has invested in the Dominican Republic’s long-term health and development through more than $1 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, which includes nearly $298 million in health assistance.
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El Salvador: Nearly $2.6 million in new health assistance for El Salvador is helping to address the outbreak. Support will include infection prevention, control, and case management. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested in El Salvador’s health and long-term development through more than $2.6 billion in total assistance, which includes $111 million in health assistance.
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Ecuador: $2 million in new health assistance will provide technical support and training in diagnostics, and technical assistance in clinical management. The United States’ long-term commitment to Ecuador includes more than $1 billion in total assistance, which includes nearly $36 million in health assistance over the last 20 years – helping Ecuador respond to major public health challenges such as Zika and Malaria.
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Guatemala: More than $2.4 million in health assistance for Guatemala will help address the outbreak. S. long-term investment in Guatemala’s health and development includes more than $2.6 billion in total U.S. assistance, which includes $564 million in health, over the past 20 years.
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Haiti: $13.2 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance for Haiti will support risk communication efforts, improved water and sanitation, infection prevention, COVID-19 case management, laboratories, and more. The United States has invested nearly $6.7 billion in total assistance, including more than $1.8 billion in health in Haiti over the past 20 years.
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Honduras: More than $2.4 million in health assistance for Honduras will help address the outbreak. In addition, the United States has also redirected $1.8 million in existing resources to support the operation of migrant reception centers and adapt existing programs to respond to COVID-19. The United States has also invested nearly $1.9 billion in total assistance, which includes $178 million in health assistance, for Honduras over the past 20 years.
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Jamaica: $700,000 in previously announced health funding is supporting risk communication efforts, water and sanitation, COVID-19 prevention, control, and management, and virus surveillance. This assistance builds upon U.S. investments of nearly $619 million total over the past 20 years, including nearly $87 million in health assistance.
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Mexico: $500,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts to help refugees in Mexico. S. long-term investment in Mexico has helped build the foundation for their COVID-19 response – this adds up to nearly $4.8 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $61 million in health assistance.
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Panama: $750,000 in health assistance will help address the outbreak for a strategic U.S. partner. Assistance will optimize country health system capacity to care for COVID-19 patients, protecting the most vulnerable. The United States has a history of investing in Panama’s health and long-term development with more than $425 million in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $33.5 million in health assistance.
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Paraguay: $1.3 million in new health assistance will support risk communication efforts, prevent and control infections, manage COVID-19 cases, strengthen laboratories, and surveil the spread of the virus. S. investment in Paraguay is long-term and totals more than $456 million total over the past 20 years, including more than $42 million in health assistance.
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Peru: $2.5 million in health assistance to provide technical assistance and training in surveillance, infection prevention and control, risk communication, and community engagement. The United States’ strong history of investing in Peru’s health and long-term development has laid the foundation for Peru’s response, with more than $3.5 billion in total U.S. assistance over the last 20 years, including nearly $265 million in health assistance.
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Venezuela: $9 million in IDA humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people is helping surveil the spread of the virus, provide water and sanitation supplies, manage COVID-19 cases, and more. In Venezuela, the U.S. has invested more than $278 million in total long-term assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $1.3 million in direct health assistance. In the last year, the U.S. provided additional lifesaving humanitarian assistance and development programming inside Venezuela that are not yet captured in these amounts.
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Regional Efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean: Additionally, $500,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support regional efforts to help Venezuelans in the region during the pandemic. In addition, the United States has also redirected $6.2 million in existing resources to support regional COVID-19 response in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Middle East and North Africa:
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Algeria: $500,000 to support Algeria’s response to COVID-19 and mitigate its impact on Algerian society by strengthening risk communication and community engagement approaches under the GoA preparedness and response plan.
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Iraq: More than $25.6 million in COVID-19 assistance for Iraq includes more than $19.1 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance that is helping prepare laboratories, implement a public-health emergency plan for points of entry, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance for influenza-like illnesses, and more. The funding includes $6.5 million in MRA humanitarian assistance to assist internally displaced Iraqis, refugees living in Iraq, and their host communities. This new assistance builds upon long-term investment in Iraq, which adds up to more than $70 billion in total U.S. assistance in the past 20 years, including nearly $4 billion in the health sector alone.
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Jordan: $8 million in assistance includes $6.5 million in MRA humanitarian assistance to support COVID-19 response efforts to help refugees in Jordan, and $1.5 million in health assistance, which will support infection prevention and control to stop the spread of the disease, as well as laboratory strengthening for large-scale testing of COVID-19. The United States also is spearheading donor support to the Government of Jordan, coordinating life-saving assistance and prioritizing investments to respond rapidly now and to plan ahead as the threat evolves. Our investments in the last 20 years alone total more than $18.9 billion in total assistance, including more than $1.8 billion in health assistance.
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Lebanon: $13.3 million in new assistance for Lebanon includes $5.3 million in IDA humanitarian assistance for COVID-19 response activities targeting vulnerable Lebanese, such as supporting private health facilities to properly triage, manage, and refer patients; ensure continuity of essential health services; carry out risk communication and community outreach activities, and increase access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. $8 million in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts to help refugees and their host communities in Lebanon. This assistance builds upon the nearly $4.9 billion in bilateral assistance, including more than $187 million in health assistance, that the U.S. has provided for Lebanon in the last 20 years. In addition to the bilateral funding, the U.S. has provided more than $2.3 billion in humanitarian assistance to respond to the Syria crisis in Lebanon.
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Libya: $6 million in IDA humanitarian assistance is being provided for Libya to support risk communication, improve case management, bolster coordination for an effective COVID-19 response, and strengthen infection prevention and control.
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Morocco: Nearly $1.7 million in health assistance is helping prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. This assistance builds upon long-term U.S. investments in Morocco adding up to more than $2.6 billion in total assistance over the last 20 years, including $64.5 million in health assistance.
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Syria: Nearly $18 million for the COVID-19 response in Syria includes $16.8 million in IDA humanitarian assistance to support risk communication, disease surveillance, water, sanitation and hygiene programs, infection prevention and control. There is nearly $1.1 million in additional MRA humanitarian assistance. This assistance joins decades of U.S. investments for the Syrian people, including more than $10 billion in humanitarian assistance for people in need inside Syria, Syrian refugees, and their host communities since the beginning of the conflict. Humanitarian assistance, including medicines and medical supplies, is exempt from any current sanctions across all areas of Syria.
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Tunisia: $600,000 in health assistance will help prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and more. The United States has invested more than $1.3 billion in total U.S. assistance for Tunisia over the past 20 years, including more than $7 million in health assistance.
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West Bank/Gaza: Approximately $5 million in International Disaster Assistance is helping provide immediate, life-saving assistance in the West Bank.
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Yemen: $500,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support COVID-19 response efforts to help refugees and other vulnerable populations in Yemen. In the past 20 years, the United States has provided nearly $4 billion in total assistance for Yemen’s long-term development, including nearly $132 million in health assistance.
Global:
- Approximately $35.5 million in global and regional programming is being provided through international organizations and NGOs, including for programs that support supply-chain management, new partnerships, monitoring and evaluation, and more.
- $8 million in MRA humanitarian assistance for UNHCR’s global COVID-19 response to address the challenges posed by the pandemic in refugee, IDP, and hosting communities.
In addition to this direct U.S. government funding, our All-of-America approach is helping people around the world through the generosity of private businesses, nonprofit groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, and individuals. Together, Americans have provided nearly $3 billion in donations and assistance, in addition to what the U.S. Government has provided.
U.S. investments under the Global Health Security Agenda, including those we have contributed to this global crisis response, are designed to protect the American public by helping to minimize the spread of disease in affected countries and improve local and global responses to outbreaks of infectious pathogens.
Ongoing U.S. COVID-19 assistance builds on the United States’ record of leadership in global health and humanitarian assistance. This assistance is part of a larger USG global response package across multiple departments and agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance globally. Our country continues to be the single largest health and humanitarian donor for both long-term development and capacity building efforts with partners, and emergency response efforts in the face of recurrent crises. These resources have saved lives, protected people who are most vulnerable to disease, built health institutions, and promoted the stability of communities and nations.
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U.S Department Of State
Office Of the Spokesperson
April 16, 2020
Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations, Bureau of Medical Services
Hugo Yon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation AffairsBureau of Economic and Business Affairs
Ian G. Brownlee, Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryBureau of Consular Affairs
Via Teleconference
MR BROWN: Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to what is our ninth briefing on the State Department’s unprecedented effort to bring Americans home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this effort began at the end of January, we’ve helped bring home over 63,000 Americans from all corners of the globe.
Today we have three subject matter experts for this on-the-record briefing to help tell that extraordinary story: Ian Brownlee, our Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary from the Bureau of Consular Affairs; Dr. William Walters, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations from the Bureau of Medical Services; and Hugo Yon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation Affairs in our Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
Dr. Walters will begin with some opening remarks and turn it over to DAS Yon. Following that, PDAS Brownlee will give the latest repatriation figures, and then we’ll have time to take a few of your questions. A reminder that this briefing is embargoed until the end of the call.
Dr. Walters, please go ahead.
DR WALTERS: Thank you and good afternoon, colleagues. The Bureau of Medical Services continues to support the COVID response and the health and welfare of the workforce, and happy to say that our efforts and the efforts of the department in both social distancing and taking appropriate measures while continuing the meet the mission are paying off.
Current cases are 187 overseas with 125 recovered cases, and current cases domestically are 72. We’re showing four recovered cases, but part of the discrepancy there is likely cases that are picked up by state and local public health for monitoring, and so we anticipate that trend line is much closer to what you would see if you mapped out the overseas cases.
Overall, we have a healthy workforce, and look forward to taking your questions.
MR BROWN: DAS Yon, please go ahead.
MR YON: Okay. Good afternoon. Hey, I’m glad to be back along with Dr. Walters and Ian Brownlee. Last time I spoke with you, I highlighted a new way that we at the department have worked with the U.S. airline industry to deploy commercial rescue flights. Today I’ll quickly recap, provide a few examples, and note how we are putting the commercial rescue model in place as mass repatriation operations wind down country by country.
Since early March, the department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs has been coordinating with our embassies and airlines to facilitate over 280 commercial rescue flights. These flights have been used to repatriate more than 27,000 American citizens, and at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer. That 27,000 is over 40 percent of all Americans repatriated from around the world.
Amid the worst crisis in the aviation industry’s history, our commercial carriers and other partners helped double the department’s capacity to repatriate Americans. Our airlines are exhibiting flexibility to stand up these unique commercial rescue flights in the face of unprecedented challenges in host countries, such as reduced airport functions, curfews and internal travel restrictions in those countries, and quarantine requirements. Their provision of these flights has allowed the department to prioritize resources to where they are needed the most.
This commercial rescue model has been particularly successful in Latin America and Caribbean countries, from which the vast majority of Americans were repatriated. I’ll provide you just a few examples.
From Honduras we were able to repatriate 4,600 American citizens on commercial rescue flights without the need for any State Department-funded charters. We worked with our embassy and United Airlines to provide commercial rescue flights within 48 hours of the Honduran Government’s orders to close the country’s borders and suspend international flights.
In Ecuador, despite increasingly challenging flight restrictions, we worked with our embassy to facilitate the vast majority of the 3,500 American repatriations on commercial rescue flights operated by Eastern Airlines, Swift Air, Sun Country Airlines, and United Airlines.
In Haiti, within just a few days of suspended scheduled service flights, commercial rescue operations operated by American Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and Jet Blue facilitated the repatriation of over 1,300 American citizens.
In Peru U.S. Embassy Lima has been – has helped repatriate over 7,200 U.S. citizens to date. We continue to help the U.S. citizens who remain there to return to the United States. Embassy Lima’s repatriation efforts just transitioned to facilitating commercial rescue flights, with one scheduled to depart today and more planned in the coming days. The embassy is offering repatriation loans for U.S. citizens who request assistance to help pay for the flight tickets.
Overall, we are winding down department-chartered flights in countries where the vast majority of Americans have already come home. As we do that, we are focusing on our ability to conduct more commercial rescue operations. Our embassies play a critical role in convincing countries to provide the necessary approvals to allow these on-demand repatriation flights to happen.
In addition to airlines operating large aircraft, airlines that operate smaller aircraft and private jets have also expressed a readiness to help, and we expect those airlines to play a larger role when numbers of Americans needing repatriation become smaller in each country.
That said, we can’t guarantee that there will be flights into an uncertain future, so Americans still overseas who want to come home should register with our embassies through the STEP program and get on available flights now.
I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: Good afternoon. Thanks very much for the opportunity to speak with all of you again. I’m really glad to be back here because today I have this wonderful opportunity. Any incisive questions you may have can be directed to my good friend and colleague Hugo Yon, please. It may seem like Groundhog Day to you and me as we come together yet again to discuss the same topic, but really day in and day out, our State Department teams around the world and back here at home have been getting up, going to work all over again, and working relentlessly to help Americans and to get this job done. It is truly, as Cale said, an incredible and historic accomplishment.
I want to take a moment to recognize individually a few of those posts around the world that have been doing so much to get our Americans home via air, land, and sea. For example, yesterday the final repatriation flight with Greg Mortimer cruise ship, which had been stranded in Uruguayan waters since March 27th, brought home the last U.S. – the last six U.S. citizen passengers. Our embassy team down there in Montevideo worked closely with the Government of Uruguay to repatriate over 130 citizens on seven different cruise ships. Despite other countries in the region closing their borders and refusing to allow cruise ship passengers to disembark, the Government of Uruguay continued to work closely with diplomatic missions to ensure an emergency sanitary corridor was put in place to move passengers in the port side to the airport for their onward flights. Our embassy in Montevideo worked with several U.S. Government agencies, the cruise ship companies, and the Government of Uruguay to ensure flights were made available for American passengers to depart Uruguay.
As I previewed to you in earlier briefings, and as Hugo just told us, we have now shifted to commercially managed flights in Peru. Our embassy in Lima is still supporting those efforts by providing logistical advice to Eastern Airlines and by issuing transit letters for U.S. citizens to present to Peruvian security officials at checkpoints. The first of these flights left Lima today and there’s another scheduled for Saturday. We are happy to report this transition has been a smooth one, and that with the help of private sector partners and foreign governments, there are sustainable, long-term transportation options for Americans abroad.
I also want to take this opportunity to highlight our team’s efforts on repatriations from Africa since we haven’t focused as much on that region in our briefings so far. The department has coordinated the repatriation of 10,878 U.S. citizens from Africa so far, and we continue to work closely with host governments and partners on these efforts. Providing help to U.S. citizens spread across such a vast continent, including some on remote islands, has posed a particular challenge when host countries have imposed severe internal travel restrictions.
For example, in Namibia, our embassy in Windhoek helped get 43 U.S. citizens home on a special commercial flight, the logistics of which required many sections of the embassy to pitch in. The regional security office worked with local police to make sure Americans coming from around the country could pass through checkpoints. At the same time, the consular section was hard at work sending messages through STEP, e-mail, FaceTime, WhatsApp, and making phone calls to keep the 43 passengers informed about logistics.
We will continue to be creative and pursue all possible solutions, but as the Secretary has said, our ability to assist U.S. citizens is limited by demand and resources. In some areas, local conditions such as quarantines or remoteness may compel Americans on the ground to shelter in place until the crisis is passed. Given these challenges, it is especially important that the U.S. citizens who are still abroad make sure they are registered in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, STEP, and make themselves known to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
With that, I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.
MR BROWN: Okay, for our first question, can you open the line of Matt Lee?
QUESTION: I’ll be very brief. For Doc Walters, I just wanted to check to make sure that the fatalities, the deaths, are still where they were when we last had a call.
And then kind of a more esoteric question for PDAS Brownlee. You mentioned remote islands off Africa. I remember kind of early on in this whole thing there was concern about Americans who might be stranded on Easter Island. Did anything ever come of that? Were there people actually there? And also in places like the Andaman Islands off of India, which are – I know that you’ve talked in the past about getting people out of base camp at Everest and other places, but in terms of those islands that are really out of the – off the beaten track, are there any examples of repatriation from there? Thank you.
DR WALTERS: Afternoon, Matt. No change in the deaths from previous report.
MR BROWNLEE: And Matt, Ian here. Yeah, we were hearing reports about folks on Easter Island. I’m not seeing anything, so I do not know. Either they weren’t there or they’ve made it back, because there were still commercial flights out of Santiago, so it could very well be that these folks managed to make their way back from Easter Island to the mainland and come on in.
And what I was really referring to was some – a young woman who was on one of the really remote islands in the Maldives, and there were complete inter-island restrictions imposed there, and so it took a great deal of effort to get her moved from where she was to the airport so she could get out. But I believe that has now been effected. I have not heard anything about the Andamans, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay, for the next question, can we go to the line of Lara Jakes?
QUESTION: I was wondering – I think, Ian, this goes to you, but if somebody could explain to me whether there is a policy that requires embassy staff to book flights out before it’s offered to American citizens. I understand that’s happening and was just curious as to why.
MR BROWNLEE: I’m not sure I’m clear on the question. To book flights out before they’re made available; is that what you’re asking?
QUESTION: So – yes, embassy staff get first priority to leave on the flights before they’re open to American citizens in whatever country to book flights out.
MR BROWNLEE: No, we had – we are on worldwide authorized departure and ordered departure in some areas, and in some areas we are continuing to bring what we call chief of mission personnel, either employees or family members, out. This is an ongoing thing, so no, they’re not getting first dibs, because we’ve brought out whatever it is, 64,000 private U.S. citizens, and we’re still continuing to bring out some chief of mission personnel.
Does that answer the question?
MR BROWN: Yeah, I believe it does. Thanks. Let’s go to the line of Tracy Wilkinson.
QUESTION: Thanks. One of you – I think it was Hugo – mentioned repatriation loans that travelers can avail themselves of. Could you talk a little bit more about that? I mean, how do you qualify, how do you apply for that? I assume a traveler doesn’t have the money to pay for his or her ticket home and you guys lend that person the money, but how does it all work? I don’t know about —
MR BROWNLEE: Yes. Tracy, hi. This is Ian. That’s really a consular question.
QUESTION: Okay, thanks.
MR BROWNLEE: This is a long, longstanding program, and I’ve been at this for 31 years now, and I was doing repat loans back when I was a first-tour vice consul. So it’s been around for at least that long. And it wasn’t a new thing then, I don’t think. And essentially, what it says is, if we’ve got a U.S. citizen who is overseas and destitute, unable to pay their way home again, we may lend them the money to buy that ticket. And as I say, this is a program of longstanding, used many, many times a year around the world.
Now, obviously, in these circumstances with a near-complete shutdown of international air travel and the stranding of so many people, we are processing more repat loans than we previously did, but essentially, it is the same program that has existed for a long time. So we have people availing themselves of this program in – I know in Peru and in other places, in Africa, a great many places. Over.
MR BROWN: Great. For our next question, can we go to the line of Carol Morello?
QUESTION: (Inaudible.) Say, I saw on your repatriation website that you at one point got nine Americans on two flights out of Somalia. Are you still able to get Americans out of Somalia when it’s such small numbers and it’s such a difficult place to get someone out of? Can you still extract people from Somalia? Thank you.
DR WALTERS: This is Dr. Walters —
MR BROWNLEE: Hi, Carol. Ian here. It is an – yeah, I’ll let Doc Walters come in on the specifics of those nine, but let me just say that with regard to folks who are in many, many parts of Somalia, our ability to assist them is very limited given the dire security situation on the ground there. Our folks rarely leave the compound except to go to the airport. But with regard to the specifics, I’ll let Doc Walters answer.
DR WALTERS: Yeah. So the Bureau of Medical Services, working closely with posts and Diplomatic Security, maintains a contract aviation capability. As Ian pointed out, any operation inside of Somalia is dangerous and complex, but yes, we still have the ability to extract certainly chief of mission personnel, DOD service members, and in rare instances that can be carefully coordinated and choreographed, others that, again, coordinated carefully through the mission there in Mogadishu.
MR BROWNLEE: Ian here. What we have a hard time doing is assisting anybody who isn’t right within that – right within Mogadishu. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay, thanks. Next, can we go to the line of Courtney McBride?
QUESTION: Thanks. Just to return quickly to the cost question, do you have any details – and this may be something to take to the record – but on the cost to individual citizens for the various methods of repatriation, the commercial flights and charters?
And then on the repatriation loans, what account within the department covers that, and what are the terms or the timelines for repayment?
MR BROWNLEE: Let me take – Ian here. Let me take the last part, and I think Hugo is better placed to address the first part. There is a fund made available to the Bureau of Consular Affairs for repatriation loans. In normal times, it is at about a million dollars that gets replenished and – as they get drawn down. These are not entirely normal times in this respect, so I couldn’t tell you what the running balance is. What happens is somebody takes out the loan, we purchase the ticket, they come home again, and we pass the loan to another part of the State Department for a collection effort. We have a very high repayment rate on those loans, so it’s – I don’t know, does that answer your question?
DR WALTERS: And it’s Dr. Walters. I can take the first one, actually.
MR BROWNLEE: Okay.
DR WALTERS: The first part of the question was with regard to calculation of what amounts to a ticket price, right, what – on a repatriation flight that is not a commercial rescue, but a – what we would call a K Fund flight, the amount due for reimbursement legally required by the department to seek is the cost of a full-fare, Y-class economy ticket from that location back to whatever the destination is – in most cases, back to Washington, D.C. And so our office of transportation management goes back through the ticketing system, identifies what the price of that type of ticket would be – and essentially, this is the ticket you would get if you walked up to the counter prior to that – this global pandemic. And that is the amount of money that becomes the basis of a promissory note.
MR YON: Hi, this is Hugo. Let me add to that, is – so that’s for the K Fund flights and – so it’s – there’s a upper limit on what the charge is. For a commercial flight, the State Department doesn’t determine that price. That is a price that the airlines charge themselves. In this time of COVID-19 with the unprecedented response from multiple – all the countries around the world, there are a number of obstacles to normal flight. So these special flights have to overcome a number of obstacles, including our own K Fund flights, and those obstacles increase the risk and the cost of these flights.
And we understand that those are the factors that go into the pricing that the airlines price, and again, some of those hurdles severely reduced airport services due to internal host country curfews. There simply aren’t enough airline workers to service the airport.
Second, requirements to fly the planes empty to the country. As a country’s borders are closed, you can’t fly any passengers down, so there increases the cost.
Another one is the internal movement restrictions that can cause American citizens to not make it to the airport in time for their flight, so then you have people who don’t get on the planes, and that also increases price pressure. So that’s a little bit more on the commercial rescue side of the pricing. I hope that answers the question. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay. For our next question, can we go to the line of Conor Finnegan?
QUESTION: Hey, I have two questions. First, there are a handful of Americans who are working on one of Holland America’s cruise ships, the MS Volendam, and they’re unable to disembark in the Bahamas. What kind of consular service or advice would you have for them as they’re sort of trapped in that scenario? And generally, what kind of recommendations are you making for the hundreds of Americans, if not more, that are still out to sea on these cruise ships?
And then secondly, and this may not be relevant to what – it may not be a question the three of you can answer, but on Secretary Pompeo’s call yesterday with Yang Jiechi of China, he noted the importance of continued exportation of medical supplies. Are you seeing shortages here in terms of either particular medicines or equipment because of China’s export controls that they’ve put in place over COVID?
MR BROWN: We’ll tackle the second question as a taken question, but we can tackle the first one.
MR BROWNLEE: With regard to cruise ships, you are correct that I think almost all of the passengers are off almost all of the cruise ships by now. That one I mentioned at the top, the Greg Mortimer, was one of the last that I’m aware of. This does leave some number, some fairly significant number of U.S. citizen crew members on cruise ships. And there are a number of them around the world that are seeking to get into port and then to be able to disembark their crews.
We are working with governments where these ships are trying to put ashore so that U.S. citizens and likeminded government, fellow – other governments are working in the same ports to try to get their nationals off the ships. But what we’re finding is, in a great many places, the governments are simply refusing to allow the ships to come in and to dock. What we’re doing is continuing to press to let these folks get off the ships. In the meantime, they’re on board the ship, where they’re being fed and taken care of by the cruise line themselves. Over.
MR YON: Hi, this is Hugo. Let me try to address the second part of the question. In terms of the part of the question on the short supply, I want to defer you to FEMA. They are the ones tracking that, could give you a better answer.
What I can say is that we in the State Department and the Economic Bureau, along with other agencies in the White House, have been working very hard with the Chinese to keep cargo and critical cargo moving between our countries, including air cargo that carries this PPE that’s important in the battle against COVID-19. So we’ve had good communications and working on facilitating planes and crews to keep those kinds of goods moving. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay, for the next question, I think we have time for two more. Let’s go to the line of Said Arikat.
QUESTION: Thank you. I have a very quick question. Your call for all Americans to return includes security contractors that are maybe under contract with the U.S. military or foreign governments in places like Iraq and Afghanistan? Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: My call is not necessarily for all Americans to return; it’s for all Americans to decide whether they seek our assistance in returning now, or to be prepared to ride out some indefinite stay where they are. Over.
MR BROWN: Nick? Okay, I hear nothing there. Let’s go to the line of Kylie Atwood.
QUESTION: Hi there. Thanks for doing this. Two questions. So when you guys are done, to the best of your ability, with these repatriation efforts, what does the task force plan to do? Like, how long will you guys be stood up, and is there another mission related to coronavirus that you guys will refocus on, I guess?
And then the second question is General Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. European Command, said that they got three Americans out of Kabul this week to treat them for COVID. And I’m just wondering, were any of them U.S. embassy officials? Thank you.
MR BROWNLEE: I’ll take the first part of that. We have no intention of pulling down or terminating this task force. This is going to be an ongoing effort. It may cease to be a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, in-person operation at some point in the future – may cease to be that. We are beginning discussions as to what this should look like going out into the future. But it will continue. There’s no end date in mind. So we will not be turning to something else; we’ll be continuing to address the needs of U.S. citizens overseas as the pandemic hopefully wanes, but as it develops over the future months. Over.
DR WALTERS: Hi, this is Dr. Walters. The three individual – it’s tough to say for certain, so I would direct your question over to TRANSCOM. But I can confirm on the Afghanistan piece that they were not U.S. embassy personnel.
I would add to what PDAS Brownlee stated that from the Bureau of Medical Services has two separate task forces that are in addition to the repatriation task force, and I think that probably goes across the department. A number of bureaus have their own component to what is the most complex problem set weve seen in a very long time. And those efforts will continue. Our duties under occupational safety and health, and that MED HART task force and contact tracing and providing guidance will continue for the foreseeable future, and we will continue to focus very hard on the safety and security of our overseas embassy populations, managing complex logistics and supply chains not necessarily related to PPE, but everything else it takes to run an embassy in during a time, as DAS Yon pointed out, where the usual backbone of commercial flights and cargo flights has been significantly disrupted.
So theres going to be a lot of work to do for the various task forces at the State Department well after the repatriation flights start to slow down.
MR BROWN: Okay. It seems like Nick has gotten back on the line, if our briefers have time for one more.
MR BROWNLEE: Sure.
MR BROWN: Okay. Nick, go ahead.
QUESTION: Hey. Hey, thank you. Hugo, I was just hoping you could follow up on the answer you gave to Conor. You mentioned that the State Department is working hard with China to keep critical cargo moving between our countries. Can you at least indicate whether there has been some concern or delay about some of these Chinese measures resulting in exports to the U.S. being held up, and give us some sense of degree to which thats a challenge and a concern at the State Department? Thank you.
MR YON: Hi, Nick. Im sorry, on that one I personally have not been following that particular factor. The part that I and my team have been working on are the flight crew testing issues that have been that caused a block to a number of flights coming in. And that is getting resolved. In terms of the other factor you mentioned, I actually dont have that information. Sorry. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay, well take that as a taken question, Nick.
All right, thanks everyone. Thanks to our briefers for joining us again today, for your valuable time. Thanks, everybody for joining the call. Now that weve reached the end, the embargo on the call is lifted. Have a great day, everybody.
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The U.S. Department of State French Language Spokesperson Marissa Scott is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Please direct interview requests or questions to AFMediaHub@state.gov.
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