Chinese construction firm donates equipment to Rwanda’s coronavirus fight
Thursday, April 02, 2020
Surgical masks are among medical equipment donated by China Star. / Net photo.

China Star, a Chinese construction company that operates in Rwanda on Wednesday donated medical equipment towards Rwanda’s COVID-19 fight.

The equipment package comprises 60,000 surgical masks, 600 medical protective suits, 1000 KN95 masks, 510 N95 masks and 908 disposable surgical suits.

This is the second batch of donation for the Chinese company which earlier on provided 96 diagnostic kits to Rwanda.

According to Wang Jiaxin, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor at Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, the package is on the way to Rwanda, having been already sent to the warehouse of RwandAir in Guangzhou, China.

The transportation of the donation will be handled by the Rwandan Government, Wang said, before adding that some more Chinese companies were preparing donations.

"The Chinese companies consider themselves part of the Rwandan society.  It is time we all should make contribution.  Rwanda relies on medical import and surely there is a shortage,” Wang told The New Times in an interview. "The Chinese companies are following closely the virus development and help Rwanda to mitigate the shortage of medical supplies.”

Rwanda has also in recent days received delivery of other medical supplies from other companies including those from Chinese business magnet Jack Ma, among others.

Rwanda, by Wednesday had 82 confirmed cases of people infected with COVID-19, a pandemic that has reached 180 countries across the globe.

By Wednesday evening, data from Johns Hopkins showed that up to 921,924 cases of the disease had been confirmed globally, of which up to 46,252 have died.