China sends medical supplies Egypt to help combat coronavirus

A shipment of medical supplies sent by China to help Egypt contain the coronavirus pandemic has arrived in the North African nation, Egyptian health minister said on Thursday.

Minister Hala Zayed said the shipment is a gift aimed at improving bilateral cooperation between Egypt and China to combat the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said that the shipment included four tonnes of medical supplies consisting of 20,000 N95 face masks, 10,000 articles of protective clothing, and 10,000 coronavirus detectors.

China will provide technical information to Egypt to help in tackling coronavirus, said Chinese ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang.

Liqiang said that the shipment is the first batch of aid sent by China as it plans to send more other countries during the next few days.

There will be an increase in the capacity of the Egyptian-Chinese factory currently producing face masks in Cairo, Liqiang added, explaining that the number of production lines would reach five. The capacity of each line is 100,000 masks per day, he said.

In early March, Egypt received 1,000 thermal detectors for coronavirus symptoms from China during a visit made by Minister Zayed to Beijing.