Ethiopia takes delivery of Africa’s free coronavirus medicalaid from Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma

Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, has made good his promise to supply medical aid to Africa to fight the ravaging coronavirus.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, received the items on behalf of the continent which is struggling to provide the much needed personal protective equipment and testing kits to its frontline health professionals.

The donation includes 5.4 million face masks, more than one million testing kits, 40,000 items of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of face shields, China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Jack Ma’s foundation said in a statement on Sunday. More medical supplies are expected over the next few weeks.

“Getting these donations to all 54 African countries, with diverse geographic conditions and different levels of infrastructure, is a great logistical and transportation challenge,” the foundation said, adding that “We are working around the clock to make the delivery as fast as possible.”

According to Reuters, Ethiopia’s Health Ministry will coordinate the distribution together with the national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, and with support from the World Food Programme and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although Africa has the slowest pace of the spread of the virus in the world, the number of cases have increased astronomically to more than a 1,000 after Nigeria recorded the continent’s first infection on February 28, 2020.

But the fear of most health experts is the disaster that awaits the continent should the pandemic spread rapidly. Many fear that the continent’s threadbare health system could easily bite the dust and wipe away millions of lives.

As of March 21, Egypt confirmed the continent’s highest number of casualties of 294 infections and eight reported deaths.

Burkina Faso has West Africa’s highest infection rates with 64 infections and three reported deaths.