MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/: Russia’s Red Cross will purchase 31 lung ventilators and distribute them among Russian hospitals, RRC spokeswoman Valentina Perekhvatova told a TASS news conference on Thursday.
"With support from our partners we will soon purchase 31 lung ventilators, to be distributed among hospitals that need them the most. This will be done in cooperation with bodies of power concerned. In the first place, the Health Ministry," she said.
Perekhvatova said the RRC was keen to extend assistance in struggling the pandemic to bodies of power, health service establishments and the most vulnerable groups of the population. This work is in progress in all of the organization’s regional chapters from St. Petersburg in the west to Kamchatka in the east.
The RRC official said the organization had joined the preventive campaign at the end of February-early March. Also, she stressed that the activity of all regional offices and the head office proceeded in tight cooperation with the authorities.
On the list RRC activities Perekhvatova mentioned assistance to the most vulnerable groups of the population and migrants and awareness promotion efforts. Also, the RRC was persuading recovered COVID-19 patients to come to blood draw stations to donate plasma.
"This plasma, which contains antibodies to the coronavirus, is used for transfusion to patients who still undergo treatment," she added.
Perekhvatova said the RRC was actively getting ready for overcoming the social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are well aware the situation may get worse. We take every measure to build up resources to be able to provide assistance to as many people as possible who need this assistance," she said.
Support for RRC
Senior health service matters adviser for Russia, Belarus and Moldova of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Alexander Mordovin, said that the organization would provide about 18 million rubles ($250,000) to support the RRC.
"Clearly, these resources are not enough to cope with all problems, but at least they will make life in the hardest-hit regions a little bit easier," he said.
Mordovin said the pandemic was far from being over and its effects were still to be gauged.
"Many people will sustain economic losses and be harmed emotionally. We are working on an action plan and look for resources to ease the pandemic effects to the maximum extent," he added.
