U.S. Department of State Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl Donates 50 ventilators to Counter COVID-19 in Panama
Panama City, October 7, 2020.– The Counselor of the U.S. Department of State, Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl, is visiting Panama as part of a trip to Latin America, where he is also visiting Mexico and Uruguay.
During his visit to Panama, Minister Ulrich will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alejandro Ferrer, to discuss COVID-19 cooperation and Panama’s efforts to combat money laundering.
Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl currently serves as an advisor to the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, he provides strategic guidance to the Secretary on foreign policy, undertakes efforts to enhance U.S. diplomacy and public outreach, and conducts special diplomatic assignments as directed by the Secretary.
During his stay in Panama, Counselor Ulrich will attend the donation ceremony of 50 ventilators that will improve the capacity of the Panamanian health system. The ventilators are a donation from the United States Agency for International Development, USAID.
These ventilators are in addition to the 50 ventilators delivered in August during the visit of National Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien. Similarly, in early September, the United States facilitated the delivery of another 50 ventilators donated by Taiwan, to strengthen the capacities of the Panamanian health system to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The United States helps its partners, especially now that the pandemic that has affected us all. We are delivering these ventilators on behalf of the people of the United States and we hope that they will help save Panamanian lives”, said Councilor Ulrich during the ceremony.
With this donation, the total contribution of the U.S. government assistance to its Panamanian counterparts for COVID-19 efforts is more than $5.5 million since the beginning of the pandemic.
USA support to Panama COVID 19: US COVID 19 assistance (.pdf 272 KB)