The United Nations has launched a global humanitarian response to the Coronavirus in developing countries, and Libya is among those countries included in the plan, as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced in a video conference that the plan is worth two billion dollars, and its goal is to protect millions of people and prevent the virus from spreading around the world
Guterres pointed out that the plan aims to help Libya, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Iraq, Mali, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and a number of other countries.
Guterres noted that the plan includes delivering to these countries basic laboratory equipment for testing cases contracting the virus, medical supplies for treating their citizens and installing handwashing stations in camps and complexes, as well as launching public information campaigns on how to protect people from the virus, as well as establishing air bridges and hubs across Africa, Asia and Latin America to transport humanitarian aids.
The United Nations plan came at a time when the World Health Organization expressed its fear for the vulnerable groups in Libya, such as the displaced and illegal immigrants, from the new Coronavirus, as the Director of the Regional Office of the World Health Organization, Ahmed Al-Manzari, stated in a statement that citizens displaced from their homes, migrants and refugees, official and unofficial prisons in Libya are at massive risk of developing covid-19 due to poor living conditions and lack of healthcare.
He mentioned six priority technical areas for urgent support in the country with the aim of enabling Libya to detect and respond to any potential infections better, including strengthening national disease monitoring, strengthening rapid response teams, supporting testing at entry borders, improving laboratory capacity, and increasing health and communication information, in addition to supporting the establishment of isolation departments in specific hospitals and quarantine areas at entry points on borders.
Meanwhile, the members of the UN Security Council had expressed their concern over the situation in Libya and the potential impact of the Coronavirus in the country, reiterating their call to stop the escalation of the fighting immediately, and to ensure the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid throughout the country, in a meeting held via the closed communication circle last Thursday, in which the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Libya, Stephanie Williams, briefed the Council.
