TEHRAN – The Iranian Red Crescent Society has so far collected non-cash public donations worth 376 billion rials (nearly $9 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to counter COVID-19 pandemic in the country, IRCS head Karim Hemmati has announced.

Also, 220 billion rials (about $5.2 million) have been paid in cash by the philanthropists to the IRCS to prevent the spread of the disease, he stated, IRNA reported.

Referring to some measures taken by the IRCS regarding the prevention of the virus throughout the country, he noted that since the onset of the outbreak, more than 980 voluntary plans and projects to contain the epidemic has been implemented across the country, with 72,694 volunteers participating in the implementation of these projects.

The first phase of public donations was allocated to provide health and essential items for the deprived and unprivileged areas, and besides, 500,000 patients suffering special diseases were provided with essential health items, he explained.

Through the second phase, the IRCS, to provide medical items for COVID-19 patients in hospitals, purchased 100 ventilators worth approximately 160 billion rials (around $3.8 million), 52 devices have been provided with the help of charities and public participation, he also said.

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