With the aim of stopping the spread of coronavirus in Africa, an Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight loaded with medical supplies including over five million face masks and over a million COVID-19 testing kit landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this morning.
The medical supplies are donated to Africa from China’s Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation to help the continent stop the spread of China originated COVID-19 pandemic. “The flight carried 5.4 million facemasks, kits for 1.08 million detection tests, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of protective face shields,” Alibaba Group International Corporate Affairs, said in a statement sent to NewBusinessEthiopia.com.
The supplies will be transported on and distributed throughout the rest of the continent by Ethiopian Airlines, according to the information from Alibaba Group. Remaining shipments of medical supplies are expected to reach Addis Ababa and be distributed to more African nations over the next few weeks.
This relief initiative forms part of Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation’s ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 and provide aid to afflicted communities across the globe. Earlier this week, the foundations had announced their commitment to donating 100,000 medical masks, 20,000 test kits and 1,000 protective suits and face shields to each of the 54 nations on the African continent.
“Getting these donations to all 54 African countries, with diverse geographic conditions and different levels of infrastructure, is a great logistical and transportation challenge. We are working around the clock to make the delivery as fast as possible. The faster we move, the earlier we can help,” said the Jack Ma Foundation.