Govt yet to receive any fund from Japan to support coronavirus prevention bid

The government of Bangladesh has not yet received any fund from the government of Japan to support Bangladesh's efforts to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, says an official.

The Japanese government is providing funds to a number of international organisations, including the UN agencies, to help the COVID-19 virus victims in Bangladesh but not directly to the government.

"The accountability of Japanese funds lies with Japan and recipient international organisations," the official said mentioning that the Bangladesh government did not receive any COVID-19pandemic fund from Japan yet.

In an effort to support Bangladesh to cope with the coronavirus in cooperation with the international organisations, the government of Japan has decided to make a contribution to UNICEF, IOM, UNHCR and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) for execution of a project titled "Emergency Support to Prevent the Spread of New Coronavirus."

Of the fund, UNICEF will receive US$ 1991952, IOM US$ 840000, UNHCR US$ 6000000 and IFRC will receive US$ 495000, an official said.

The Japanese Embassy in Dhaka has already informed it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that there may be some changes in the programme depending on the local situation.

With this support through the international organisations, the Japanese government hoped that they take a leading and active role in preventing the spread of coronavirus infection in Bangladesh in cooperation with the international community, according to officials.

Bangladesh saw an alarming rise in coronavirus cases on Monday as 182 more people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of infected people to 803.

Besides, five more people died from COVID-19 during the period, taking the number of total deaths to 39.