International
US Donates Additional $20K to COVID Fight in The Bahamas
By US Embassy Nassau
Nov 24, 2020 - 4:58:08 PM

 

Commander Sonia Miller of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (left) greets U.S. Embassy Senior Defense Official, Commander Kevn Self (right), upon receiving $20,000 in equipment to aid in the fight against COVID-19 in The Bahamas| November 20, 2020 | Nassau, The Bahamas

On Friday, November 20, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau delivered $20,000 in additional equipment to help the fight against COVID-19 in The Bahamas. U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) donated six custom-made internal partitions for mobile shelters being used to screen COVID-19 patients, allowing them to better isolate patients and prevent the spread of the virus.

U.S. Embassy Senior Defense Official, Commander Kevin Self, delivered the donation to Commander Sonia Miller of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, and Captain Stephen Russell, Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), at the South Beach Clinic on New Providence.

Personnel from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, National Emergency Management Agency, and the South Beach Clinic learn how to install a custom-made partition for a mobile shelter (donated by U.S. Northern Command); the partition creates separate rooms inside the climate-controlled shelter, helping isolate patients and prevent the spread of disease | November 20, 2020 | Nassau, The Bahamas

In September of 2020, the U.S. Embassy donated ten mobile shelters to NEMA to aid in disaster relief, and the Ministry of Health (MoH) expressed interest in using some of the shelters in the fight against COVID-19. Within weeks, the MoH had begun using two of the shelters at the South Beach Clinic to screen patients and conduct testing. However, Minister of Health Renward Wells asked whether it would be possible to create partitions inside the shelters that could help more effectively isolate patients and prevent infection.

Exemplifying the ongoing partnership between the United States and The Bahamas, Commander Self took Minister Wells’ request to NORTHCOM, who then then worked with Regulus Global (the company that originally manufactured the shelters) to create custom-made partitions for the shelters. When installed, the partitions create three smaller rooms within the larger shelter, keeping patients isolated from one another and preventing the spread of infection.

One of two mobile shelters being used to supplement COVID-19 screening and testing at the South Beach Clinic on New Providence; these are two out of ten shelters the United States donated to The Bahamas in September of 2020 for disaster relief, and which the Ministry of Health repurposed to bolster the fight against COVID-19 | November 20, 2020 | Nassau, The Bahamas

Mike Kleppe of Regulus Global (right) demonstrates how to properly install one of six custom-made partitions for mobile shelters donated by the United States to The Bahamas to help aid in the fight against COVID-19 | November 20, 2020 | Nassau, The Bahamas

(From left to right): Captain Stephen Russell, Director of the National Emergency Management Agency; Commander Kevin Self, Senior Defense Official at the U.S. Embassy; Commander Sonia Miller, of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force; and Mike Kleppe of Regulus Global | November 20, 2020 | Nassau, The Bahamas

U.S. Embassy Senior Defense Official, Commander Kevin Self, helps to install one of six custom-made partitions for mobile shelters donated by the United States to The Bahamas to help aid in the fight against COVID-19 | November 20, 2020 | Nassau, The Bahamas

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