NATO delivers ventilators to the Czech Republic
The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic received 60 ventilators from the NATO stockpile in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, 27 October 2020. The donation was coordinated by NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC). The ventilators will be distributed by the Health Ministry’s Crisis Preparedness Department to hospitals in the country.
The ventilators are part of a donation by the United States to the NATO stockpile. They were stored by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency in a warehouse facility at the NSPA Southern Operational Centre in Taranto, Italy and were transported to Prague by the Czech Air Force. Military personnel from the Czech Air Force handed over the ventilators to the Czech Ministry of Health at Prague airport in a small ceremony attended by the Czech Minister of Health Roman Prymula on 27 October.
Following the Czech Republic’s request for international assistance, in bilateral aid Hungary also delivered 150 ventilators to the Czech Republic on Sunday, 25 October.
NATO has established a stockpile of medical equipment in order to be able to provide immediate relief to Allies or partners in need. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is managing the purchase and storage of relief items for the stockpile. Several Allies have made financial and in-kind donations of medical equipment and supplies to the Pandemic Response Trust Fund. The Czech Republic requested international assistance from the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic on 22 October.