COVID-19: US announces USD 8.4M aid to Pakistan

Islamabad, Apr 18: US has announced an aid of USD 8.4 million to Pakistan in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement on Friday was made by the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Paul Jones.

In a video message, Jones said, "With more than $8 million in new contributions, the United States is collaborating with the government of Pakistan to help stop the spread of coronavirus nationwide and to care for afflicted people."

Jones also said that all of these contributions are identified as top priority needs by the Pakistani authorities, and they are fully paid for by the American people.

According to Dawn, around USD 3 million from the total sum of aid will be used to provide three new mobile labs in Pakistan's coronavirus hotspots to increase it's testing and monitoring capacity.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 7,476 coronavirus cases so far following 143 deaths.