Taiwan donates further 6M surgical masks to help combat coronavirus

2020/04/13

Taiwan’s government has pledged to donate a further six million surgical masks for use as personal protective equipment by frontline medical personnel combating coronavirus in America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said April 9.
 
 According to the MOFA, one million masks will be delivered to the U.S. states most hard hit by the pandemic, with the rest going to EU members in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as partner nations under the government’s New Southbound Policy.
 
 The NSP covers the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.
 
 The donations are the second wave pledged by Taiwan following the announcement April 1 that a total of one million masks would be sent to the Holy See and 14 other allies, two million to the U.S. and seven million to Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K.
 
 The European shipment arrived April 9 in two cargo planes touching down in Luxembourg and Frankfurt, respectively.
 
 The MOFA said another 400,000 masks have already been delivered to the U.S. as part of an agreement to send 100,000 per week under an epidemic prevention cooperation framework announced March 18 by Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu and American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen.
 
 The country’s donations have earned international recognition, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying in a tweet April 8 that the openness and generosity of Taiwan are a model for the world.
 
 Diseases know no national borders, and the battle against COVID-19 cannot be fought by individual countries alone, the MOFA said, adding Taiwan can play an indispensable role in overcoming coronavirus.
 
 The commitment and compassion of the government and people show how Taiwan Can Help deliver the World Health Organization’s goal of Health For All, the ministry said.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)