The Chinese Ambassador to Maldives Zhang Lizhong on Friday announced that the first batch of emergency medical supplies from China arrived in Maldives.
Via his Twitter, Ambassador Zhang said that the aid was in the spirit of the traditional friendship featuring mutual respect and support that exist between Maldives and China.
He also revealed a list of supplies provided from the Yunnan Province of China to Maldives.
To appreciate the sympathy & support from the people of 🇲🇻 to the people 🇨🇳, and in the spirit of traditional friendship featuring mutual respect, & mutual support, the assistance of Yunnan Province comes today to help fight COVID19.@ibusolih @abdulla_shahid @MohamedNasheed pic.twitter.com/pgSzgXdLN6
— Amb. Zhang Lizhong (@AmbassadorZhang) March 27, 2020
The donations were handed over to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid.
After accepting the aid on behalf of Maldivians, Minister Shahid thanked the government of the Yunnan Province for their generous assistance in the Maldives's battle against COVID-19.
He also revealed that there was some delay in bringing the shipment due to the travel restriction in place over COVID-19 concerns.
Minister Shahid met with Ambassador Zhang on March 15 and requested for assistance in fighting the novel coronavirus. After the discussions, the Chinese government soon announced that they have taken note of the various requirements of the Maldivian government in relation to the global pandemic.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 late December, the prevalence of the disease in China climaxed in early February. However, the number of new cases have since dropped significantly, while deaths have dropped. Overall, the recovery outcome is greater than mortality rates. The country is currently working to manage the number of imported cases as the disease has spread worldwide.
The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected more than 597,000 and claimed over 27,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 133,000 have recovered.
Currently, there are 16 positive cases from Maldives, out of which one case is a local and all the others are tourists and foreign resort staff. So far, out of the positive cases, nine people have recovered.
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