The United Nations, together with national and international partners, is supporting national efforts to scale up the response to prevent and control the outbreak of COVID-19 and improve access to health care and water supply in the country, in line with the COVID-19 Prevention and Response Plan in Venezuela.  

The Plan is appealing for US$72 million and focuses on strengthening the capacity of the health system to quickly identify and treat COVID-19 patients; supplying water, hygiene and sanitation in prioritized hospitals and communities and providing timely and trustworthy information to the public to prevent the spread of the virus. The Plan also seeks to ensure other critical humanitarian programmes can continue including for food security, nutrition, protection and education.

As of end of April, humanitarian partners had reached over 860,000 people as part of the multi-sectoral COVID-19 response, 56 per cent of which were women. On 8 April, an UN-organized plane carrying 90 tons of medical, WASH supplies, as well as schooling inputs, arrived in Venezuela. Local procurement has also been accelerated to meet emerging needs, including the direct attention to COVID-19 cases, WASH and energy support and the provision of equipment and medical supplies to hospitals and health centers. The early scale up of the response has been possible with the generous support of international donors.