Pakistan among 33 countries that provided medical supplies to fight coronavirus: China

BEIJING: China on Friday said that 33 countries, including Pakistan and four international organisations, have provided Beijing with medical supplies to fight the coronavirus epidemic in the country.

“According to what we have learned from diplomatic channels, altogether 33 foreign governments and four international organisations have provided China with medical supplies.,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said during his weekly press briefing.

These countries included Algeria, Australia, Belarus, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Suriname, Tajikistan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, the European Union, UNICEF, UNDP and the International Organisation for Migration, he added.

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Shuang further shared that a total of 17 foreign governments and one international organisation announced that they would offer medical supplies to China.

“They are Austria, Brazil, the Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Norway, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia and the United Nations Population Fund.”

In addition, Chile, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Vanuatu have also offered China financial and material support in other means, he added.

Shuang said that friendly people in many countries, overseas firms and the Chinese community, including students, had also provided a lot of support to Beijing in various ways.

The spokesperson added that China mainly relied on its own strength to tackle the epidemic. “We are confident and capable of doing this. In the meantime, we welcome and thank the international community, the developing countries in particular, for their sincere support and friendly assistance.”

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According to the latest data released by China’s National Health Commission on Friday, the total of confirmed infections across mainland China now stand at 66,492 after 2,641 new cases were confirmed.

The death toll rose by 143 to 1,523, with most of the new deaths in central Hubei province and in particular the provincial capital of Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the outbreak began in December.

The number of deaths in Hubei rose by 139 as of Friday, 107 of those in Wuhan. A total of 1,123 people in Wuhan have now died from the coronavirus.

Outside mainland China, there have been nearly 450 cases in some 24 countries and territories and three deaths. Egypt confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday, saying the affected person was a foreigner who had been put into isolation in hospital.

Three people have died outside mainland China — one in Japan, one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.