CTBTO opens PPE stocks to help fight COVID-19

PPE equipment in use during a CTBTO On-Site Inspection field exercise.
CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo hands over equipment to Burkina Faso’s Ambassador Dieudonné Kéré.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has opened up its stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) to help support medical staff fighting COVID-19 in developing countries.

The first consignment of masks, gloves, protective suits and other vital items was handed over on 3 April to Ambassador Dieudonné Kéré of Burkina Faso, one of the African countries hardest hit by the pandemic.

On 14 April a second load was collected by Ambassador Juan Francisco Facetti of Paraguay.

“Solidarity always with our member states fighting COVID-19,” Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo said. “The CTBTO is doing what it can to support.”

This action by the CTBTO will help to stop the angel of death in Burkina Faso and give hope to medical staff and our people.Ambassador Dieudonné Kéré,
Burkina Faso
PPE equipment ready for donation at the CTBTO TeST Centre
Paraguay’s Ambassador Juan Francisco Facetti takes delivery of PPE equipment

The equipment had been stocked by the CTBTO’s On-Site Inspection division for use in training, field exercises and ultimately to be ready for deployment once the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty enters into force.

All this will go to the first-line people who are working: the medical doctors, the nurses, the sanitary personnel. So this donation will save lives – many lives.Ambassador Juan Francisco Facetti,
Paraguay

The handovers, following Austria’s strict social-distancing rules, took place at the CTBTO’s brand-new Technology Support and Training (TeST) Centre in Seibersdorf, south of Vienna.