The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) has revealed that 45 ventilators will be arriving in the Maldives within the month.
Speaking at Sunday's press briefing by the centre, NEOC's Spokesperson Mohamed Mabrook Azeez said while COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions across the world, ventilators are in high global demand as patients whose health deteriorates due to COVID-19 need to be put on ventilators. Therefore, there are some challenges in procuring enough machinery, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is assisting in procuring ventilators for the Maldives, said Mabrook.
The government tasked three companies to purchase 145 ventilators under single source procurement policy. 18 out of the 50 ventilators assigned to MedTech Maldives have now arrived in the Maldives, with more scheduled to arrive later this month.
Mabrook said 10 ventilators will be arriving on May 18, and 35 more arriving around May 25. The remaining machines will be arriving within June, he added.
