China donates more PPEs to help Namibia fight COVID-19

The Chinese government on Wednesday handed over the second batch of medical supplies to help Namibia combat the COVID-19 epidemic.

Namibian Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula (R, Front) and Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming (L, Front) attend a handover ceremony of medical supplies in Windhoek, Namibia, on July 15, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

The donation to Namibia's Health Ministry, valued at 4.3 million Namibia dollars (US$260,000), included 5,000 disposable medical protective clothing, 15,000 face masks for medical use, 150,000 surgical masks, 7,000 medical protective goggles, 7,000 disposable surgical gloves, and 3,000 shoe covers.

Namibian Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula thanked China for the donation and for its technical support and capacity-building assistance.

"Obtaining these supplies from the outside market has been very challenging due to travel bans and restrictions worldwide," he said at a ceremony in Windhoek.

Shangula said health workers and other frontline cadres are the most valuable assets in the fight and the technical support, capacity-building, and donations from China are highly appreciated.

Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Zhang Yiming, hopes the donated supplies will play an important role in Namibia's fight against the epidemic at this critical moment.

In April, Namibia received COVID-19 aid from the Chinese government and from the Jack Ma Foundation.

Namibia has so far reported 960 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with two deaths and 31 recoveries.