IRNA - The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered 16 CT scan machines to strengthen Iran�s emergency response to COVID-19.

CT scanning is a key component of the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 patients. The units, worth more than $4 million, were procured by WHO through support from the Government of Japan and the State of Kuwait.

�As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, WHO is supporting Iran�s efforts to turn the course of the disease. By delivering vital equipment and medicines, training health workers, and raising awareness in communities, WHO works with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education to serve the people of Iran,� said Dr. Christoph Hamelmann, the WHO Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Recently, the WHO also equipped Iran�s COVID-19 hospitals with arterial-blood gas (ABG) analyzers�equipment essential for the assessment and monitoring of critically ill patients. Seventy ABG analyzers with the consumables have been procured and delivered so far, with support from the Government of Japan.

Since the start of the pandemic, WHO has supplied tons of personal protective equipment to Iran�s health workers to help them provide safe care to communities across different parts of the country.

The Organization�s multiple shipments of PCR test kits have also enabled Iran�s laboratory network to continue to perform hundreds of thousands of diagnostic tests to early detect infected individuals.

As of 21 July 2020, a total of 278,827 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the total death toll standing at 14,634. The country�s national laboratory network has conducted 2,201,958 tests so far.