Chinese aid boosts Lao efforts against Covid-19

The Chinese government has delivered 2,000 virus detection kits to assist Laos’ prevention and control efforts against Covid-19, according to information from the Chinese Embassy in Vientiane.

The Jack-Ma Foundation has also donated 5,000 sets of protective clothing as well as N95 face masks, 400,000 standard face masks for medical personnel, and 20,000 virus detection sets to Laos.
The Chinese government will offer more assistance to Laos in disease prevention and control based on the needs of the evolving situation.
The information also noted that local authorities in China such as Yunnan, Hunan, Chongqing, Shandong, and Shanghai had joined with China-Asia Economic Development Association, Chinese and Foreign Entrepreneurs Alliance, ICBC Bank in Vientiane, and the Chinese community in Laos to offer similar aid, of which, some had already been shipped to Laos.
“On behalf of a partner of common destiny, the Party, government, and people of China feel sympathy for Laos facing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and are ready together with Laos to overcome the difficulty,” the embassy stated through the information source.
Earlier last month, local Lao and Chinese expat communities donated hundreds of thousands of face masks, safety glasses and medical gloves and caps to support the city of Wuhan’s efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
The novel coronavirus, which was first detected in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province, has caused a global pandemic.
Six Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Laos so far, with the first two cases announced by local health authorities on March 24.
According to Chinese authorities, the spread of the novel coronavirus was now under the control in China.

By Somxay Sengdara
(Latest Update March 27, 2020)