The United Kingdom has donated critical supplies to guard frontline health care workers from COVID-19

The Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom has donated more than 1.2 million pieces of PPE to Libya in order to protect frontline health care workers from COVID-19 infection on the job. The delivery includes 406 000 isolation gowns, 100 800 face visors, 102 600 protective goggles, 63 000 aprons, and 560 000 pairs of gloves.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to workers and health facilities and worldwide, particularly frontline health care workers who serve as COVID-19 foot soldiers. The situation had also deteriorated in Libya, where decades of conflict has severely harmed the health system. Nearly 6 million of the population do not have access to adequate health-care services.

The large donation from the UK Department of Health and Social Care will help to protect health workers from the illness and will not prevent them from providing essential service to the patients.

"The COVID pandemic is far from over," said Ms Elizabeth Hoff, WHO Representative in Libya. "These life-saving supplies will assist tens of thousands of sick individuals throughout the country in receiving adequate and timely care, ultimately saving lives."