The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $300,000 emergency grant yesterday to support the Bangladesh government's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The grant will support procurement of health safety materials, including personal protective gears, N95 masks, safety googles, aprons, thermometers, and biohazard bags, according to a press statement by ADB today.

The list has been prioritised by the Directorate General of Health Services of the health and family welfare ministry of Bangladesh.

The materials will help the government strengthen its efforts to contain spread of the virus.

The grant assistance is sourced from the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance entitled "Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases".

"ADB is fully committed to supporting Bangladesh in the fight to control Covid-19, and this is only the first of the planned support that ADB is preparing to help the government deal with this difficult situation," said Country Director Manmohan Parkash.

This assistance will invigorate Bangladesh's ability to strengthen prevention, improve health professionals' protection from the disease, test people to detect infection, manage severe cases, and reduce the risk of the deadly virus' mass transmission, the statement read.

"We are working tirelessly to put together further assistance in the health and financial sectors," Parkash added.

In the face of a threat of a Corona virus outbreak, Bangladesh government has taken various actions and adopted measures in line with the World Health Organisation's recommendations.