Coronavirus: China to help Congo fly in medical equipment

13 Juillet 2020

Brazzaville, Congo, July 13 (Infosplusgabon) - China's ambassador to Congo, Ma Fulin, confirmed on Sunday in Brazzaville that Congo has indeed placed a "large order" of medical and protection equipment against COVID-19 from China, indicating that the African country is finding it difficult to have the orders delivered to Brazzaville because of the lack of planes to move them, the public radio announced on Monday.

In an exchange with journalists, Ma Fulin stressed that it was "a big order, a really important order. The government has, in fact, bought medical equipment and other protective items from China from two renowned Chinese companies."

The company is owned by Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire who has been very generous to African countries by sending tons of COVID-19 protective equipment to Africa.

The Congo has received them twice. Certainly, as a token of gratitude, a good order had been placed with him by the Congolese authorities. The second order was placed with a Chinese state-owned company.

According to the ambassador, it is also a company that has a great deal of credibility in China.

"The orders are ready for delivery and the packaging is already completed. But the Africans have to pick up their goods at a provincial Chinese airport to take them to Brazzaville. However, the global health crisis has forced governments to close their borders and has paralyzed airlines. Several cargo planes have been grounded for months."

The Chinese ambassador believes that his country, ''as part of the community of destiny'', could help Congo to transport its orders to Brazzaville because China could find a plane."

At the beginning of the week, the Congolese authorities also mentioned this difficulty as it seems that the head of state has requested that the Congolese cargo ship, Illiouchine-76, be sent to China to make this trip.

In addition, some equipment such as respirators have begun to be received in hospitals, with the government assuring that they will be quickly assembled and put into service.

In the meantime, COVID-19 patients continue to die from respiratory distress, precisely because of the lack of these much-needed devices.

However, China remains skeptical about the opening of commercial flights to African countries. The country, which applies a 40-day quarantine instead of 14 days as in the Congo, fears the excess of freedom shown by several African peoples in the face of the pandemic.

For the moment, "we can only organize special flights," the Chinese diplomat concluded.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ANK/GABON2020

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