South Korea has provided 95,000 COVID-19 rapid test kits to Bangladesh as part of its humanitarian assistance efforts.
The consignment from SD BIOSENSOR, a leading test kit manufacturer in South Korea, was officially received by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) recently, the South Korean Embassy in Dhaka said Sunday.
The kits, worth $800,000, were since distributed by DGHS to several test centres across the country, including Army Central Medical Hospital, Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Hospital, and Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
DGHS will use the remaining kits in due course.
In view of the latest surge in COVID-19 related deaths and newly confirmed cases in Bangladesh, the embassy said it hoped that the rapid test kits could help the health authorities successfully curb further aggravation of the situation.
In December 2020, South Korea provided $50 million as soft loan from its Economic Development Cooperation Fund to Bangladesh to financially support the urgent needs incurred by the pandemic.
South Korea will continue to stand by and support Bangladesh throughout the fight against COVID-19, said the embassy.