Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced the third round of medical mask donations on Tuesday (May 5), pledging to provide more than seven million of them to countries hit hard by the coronavirus (COVID-19).
In view of the ongoing pandemic, the ministry will launch the third wave of international humanitarian assistance to offer face masks to frontline medical workers worldwide, MOFA Spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) stated at a press briefing on Tuesday morning. The country will donate a total of 7.07 million masks, including 2.28 million to the U.S. federal and state governments, and 1.3 million intended for the EU and European countries.
In addition, Taiwan’s allies will receive 1.09 million masks, while 600,000 will go to African nations as well as healthcare workers based in Syria to help the refugees, Ou said. The country will also donate 1.8 million masks to its New Southbound Policy partners, which are mostly Southeast Asian nations, but the ministry is still in negotiations with some of them and will keep the public informed, according to the spokesperson.
Taiwan previously announced two rounds of mask donations beginning in early April, giving away 10 million and approximately seven million masks, respectively, to countries where the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and later spread to the rest of the world, had been escalating since mid-February.
Taiwan is proud to be able to offer some support to the world as it fights against the virus, said Ou, stressing that the country is willing and able to make more contributions to global health.
Ou also mentioned that the Taiwanese have as of Tuesday donated 3.93 million masks through the government’s mask pre-order website and mobile application. The government will handle donations provided by the public separately and ensure that they will be put to good use, said Ou.
Source：Taiwan News
