China has donated 2.9 mln USD worth of medical supplies to Namibia in combating COVID-19: official

WINDHOEK -- Donations of medical supplies from China to Namibia against the COVID-19 pandemic are now roughly worth 50 million Namibian dollars (2.9 million U.S. dollars), Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming said.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Zhang made another donation of 50,000 masks to the Khomas region in central Namibia.

Handing over the donation, Zhang said China to date has donated 30 ventilators, 30 oxygen generators, 26,000 COVID-19 test kits, and 40,000 personal protective equipment (PPEs) to Namibia, among others.

"I am very honored to be here on behalf of the Chinese government to give this donation to the people of Namibia. The government of Namibia has successfully implemented the lockdown since reporting the first case in March and subsequently lifted it," he said.

The ambassador also expressed his appreciation to the government of Namibia which has been able to deal with the pandemic. The accumulative confirmed cases in the country are a little over 10,000.

He said China has successfully contained the virus with the confidence people can defeat this virus.

"China has now cut off all internal transmissions and is the first major global economy that has restored its normalcy. We are the first major economy that has reached economic growth," he said.

Zhang added that the donation may not be much but it represents the friendship between China and Namibia. "I hope these supplies reach the people that need them the most," he said.