World Bank Group (WBG) approved $50 million as an emergency response under the World Bank Groups new Fast Track COVID-19 Facility worth $6 billion. The WB has allocated the funding amid a global effort to help strengthen the COVID-19 response and expedite economic recovery. The Facility includes direct support to WBs member states to enable them to overcome the health and economic implications of the pandemic, Egypt qualified to receive funds worth $50 million, which is the maximum available for Egypt under the Facility based on the criteria of population size; as states with a population up to 20 million are qualified to receive $20 million. States with a population up to 50 million are qualified to receive $35 million; and those of a population up to 100 million are qualified to receive up to $50 million; states with a population up to 250 million are qualified to receive $100 million; states with a population up to 1 billion are qualified to receive $250 million; and those with populations exceeding 1 billion are entitled to receive $350 million. The new Project aims to strengthen the prevention, detection and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt, The project will focus on the immediate and critical areas of support identified by the Government of Egypt's National COVID-19 response plan. The project funds will support (1) procuring and distributing medical equipment and supplies necessary for the COVID-19 response; (2) health worker training; (3) operations of specifically designated quarantine, isolation and treatment centers; (4) mobilization of rapid response teams in contact tracing of COVID-19 cases; (5) development of contextualized messaging platforms and tools to improve public awareness of COVID prevention; and (6) innovative Monitoring and Evaluation of social distancing strategies including community mobilization.
