Kenya hails China's support towards COVID-19 fight

NAIROBI — Kenya on Aug 23 hailed China for the support it has provided to strengthen the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rashid Aman, chief administrative secretary of the Ministry of Health, said that the Chinese government and organizations have supported Kenya in terms of donating critical medical supplies to boost response to the pandemic.

"One of the most important donations was from Jack Ma who provided COVID-19 testing kits and which became the foundation for the country's testing program," Aman said during a convention in Nairobi.

Kenya's COVID-19 positive cases stood at 32,364 and the number of fatalities linked to the disease reached 548 as the East African Nation intensified efforts to flatten the curve.

Aman said that Kenya was grateful to the Chinese government and private sector for their support that has boosted efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.

"China is a true partner of ours," said Aman.

He said that there is a lot that Kenya can learn from China because of the measures the Asian nation has put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"China has already provided us with a number of proposals on how we can approach this pandemic in order to save lives, "said Aman.

He said that Kenya is cooperating with several countries and organizations on how to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have had a lot of sessions of exchange of knowledge with China on how to respond to the pandemic," he added.

The health ministry said that Kenya is currently in talks with a number of international organizations to ensure that its citizens get access to COVID-19 vaccines once they are available in the market.