Editor’s Note: This information has been updated as of June 4, 2021
SACRAMENTO – Today, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) announced the state has sent additional Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to South Asian counties currently facing devastating surges of COVID-19 cases.
Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) and goggles were inspected, packed, and prepared for shipment at state warehouse facilities. Even while providing these needed supplies, California still maintains a robust stockpile to rapidly respond to any additional outbreaks within the state.
Specifically, California will send the following supplies:
- Sri Lanka: 499,200 RDT and 40,000 goggles
- Maldives: 249,600 RDT and 4,000 goggles
- Pakistan: 249,600 RDT and 52,000 goggles
- Bangladesh: 52,000 goggles
- Nepal: 450,000 disposable isolation gowns
The distribution of the lifesaving supplies is being coordinated through the U.S. Agency for International Development and will be provided directly to health care providers and front-line workers.
California is in a position to distribute the supplies because of the early, aggressive actions Governor Gavin Newsom took to combat COVID-19. California reports the lowest positivity rates in the entire country and more than 40 million vaccines have already been administered in the state. Previously, Governor Newsom loaned ventilators to Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada and Delaware and also sent millions of items of PPE to neighboring states along the West Coast.