Washington: The US has provided nearly USD 5.9 million in health assistance to India to contain the spread of COVID-19, the State Department has said.

The amount is being used to help India hinder the spread of the disease by providing care for the affected, disseminating essential public health messages to communities and strengthen case-finding and surveillance, it said on Thursday.

The assistance is also being used to mobilize innovative financing mechanisms for emergency preparedness and response to this pandemic.

"This builds on a foundation of nearly USD2.8 billion in total assistance, which includes more than USD1.4 billion in health assistance, the United States has provided to India over the last 20 years," it said in a update of the US efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The State Department and the US Agency for International Development have now committed nearly USD 508 million in emergency health, humanitarian, and economic assistance.

This is on top of the funding the US has already provide to multilateral and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are helping communities around the world deal with the pandemic.

Coronavirus cases in India on Thursday crossed 13,000, while 420 people have died of the disease in the country.

In South Asia, America's COVID-19 assistance has gone to Afghanistan (USD18 million), Bangladesh (USD9.6 million), Bhutan (USD500,000), Nepal (USD1.8 million), Pakistan (USD9.4 million) and Sri Lanka (USD1.3 million).