China pledges more support to Malawi in coronavirus fight in Malawi: Donates more PPE kits

Chinese Ambassador to Malawi, Liu Hongyang, has pledged more support towards efforts by the Malawi government to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.

Hongyang also reiterated that China will maintain its open, transparent and responsible response to the pandemic by closely cooperating with the international community, namely the World Health Organization (WHO), African Union (AU), the United States of America (USA) and other countries and organizations and timely sharing the information of virus genetic sequence and other epidemic information of the virus.

The ambassador made the remarks in Lilongwe on Friday he handed over medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPEs) to Malawi’s major cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

The other supplies have been donated to major referral hospitals of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Kamuzu Central Hospital and Mzuzu Central Hospital.

Hongyang indicated that this is the first batch of the donation and that the second consignment is in preparation.

“The second batch includes 150, 000 medical masks, 15, 000 N95 masks, 7, 000 sets of protective suits, goggles, gloves. Jack Ma foundation has delivered two batches of donation to Malawi medical institutions, including 102,500 masks, 20, 800 test kits, 18, 900 swabs and extraction kits, 5, 000 protective suits and face shields, 5 ventilators and 36 thermometers,” said Hongyang.

The Chinese envoy further disclosed that the Chinese Community in Malawi has already donated 47, 000 masks, 1, 100 bottled hand sanitizers, 1, 500 gloves, 800 tablets of soap and 11 thermometers to the Malawi’s Ministry of Health, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, City Councils, Malawi Defence Force (MDF) and the Malawi Police Service (MPS), among others.

“Today’s donation is directly from the Chinese Embassy. Each of the three city councils will receive 2, 000 disposable medical masks and two thermometers. Additionally, each of the three central hospitals will receive 10, 000 disposable medical masks, 7, 000 surgical masks, 300 N95 masks, 300 sets of protective suits and goggles, 1, 000 pairs of gloves and 20 thermometers,” said Hongyang.

He took advantage of the ceremony to remind Malawians that coronavirus knows no boundaries and remains one of humanity’s common enemy.

However, Hongyang emphasized that countries can overcome the challenge by standing in solidarity.

“China will stay committed to the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, work closely with WHO and other organizations and countries to defeat the virus through mutual assistance. We believe through solidarity, we will prevail,” he assured.

In his remarks, the Kamuzu Central Hospital director, Jonathan Ngoma, said the donated equipment will go a long way in Malawi’s efforts to prevent and contain the virus.

Ngoma stated that the Central Region’s referral hospital, just like other public health facilities in the country, is running short of the equipment for responding to the pandemic.

“We are very grateful for this assistance and I would like to assure the Chinese Embassy that we will use the donation prudently,” he said.