Today Ambassador Degnan joined Minister Tikaradze in welcoming the arrival of high caliber testing equipment and materials to conduct 4,000 gold-standard RT-PCR tests, as well as almost $20,000 in personal protective equipment, donated by the U.S. to the Ministry of Health. This donation of these testing kits, procured from the U.S. company Thermo Fisher, will significantly improve Georgia’s ability to increase COVID-19 testing and help to control the spread of the virus.
Ambassador’s remarks at the donation of PCR test kits and PPE to the Ministry of Health
Question – “How is the rapid testing equipment going to help Georgia improve in the fight against COVID-19, and how do you assess the Ministry’s effort?”
Ambassador Degnan – “It was a real pleasure to be here today with Minister Tikaradze for the arrival of this very sophisticated testing equipment and the accompanying materials, that include 4,000 of these “gold standard” PCR testing units. The purpose of these, besides being very accurate, is that it will increase Georgia’s ability to test, and testing is going to save lives, it is going to help Georgia be able to reopen its economy sooner, because we are only at the half-time of this game. There is still a lot that we need to see as we open the economies around the world. We need to keep our resistance up. We need to continue to follow the restrictions. These testing kits, the personal protection equipment that DTRA donated here today, and has donated to other Ministries, is very important to protecting people – masks, gloves, gowns – so that we can continue to engage, but safely and keeping our family, our loved ones, safe and get back to work fully. So I’m very happy to be here. I think Georgia has done an excellent job on the first half of the game, and now we’re going into a very delicate period, and I know they are doing their best to be prepared for that, as well. Thank you.”