China Sends COVID Experts To Italy Amid Outbreak Surge

Story ByLee Bullen,Sub EditorJoseph Golder,AgencyAsia Wire Report

China has reportedly sent a team of expert, hazmat suits and face masks to Italy to help doctors battle the spike in COVID-19 cases.

A plane left China on 12th March carrying virus specialists and over 4 million items of protective equipment including 10,000 pulmonary ventilators, around two million face masks, and 20,000 hazmat suits.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that Chinese experts were “ready to share their experience” with their Italian counterparts.

AsiaWire

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced the measure on 10th March following a phone call with China’s Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to local media.

Wang promised to send “specialist doctors who faced the first peak of coronavirus (COVID-19)”.

Di Maio said: “Our doctors don’t need anyone to teach them their job, but the Chinese doctors were the first [to deal with the virus] and they can bring experience.”

AsiaWire

While officials in Beijing have declared the viral outbreak in China as “basically curbed”, Italy has seen a surge in cases.

On 11th March, only 24 new cases were reported one day after leader Premier Xi Jinping made his first visit to Wuhan where the virus is believed to have originated.

However, in Italy on 10th March, 977 new cases were confirmed and the death toll rose to 168.

Latest reports said that Italy has a total of 12,462 confirmed cases and 827 related deaths.

With the entire European country effectively on lockdown, hospitals and medical centres are said to be under immense strain with the rising number of cases.

The size of the specialist team has not been confirmed by either government, but some reports said it was five people.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.