The donation of medical equipment pledged in mid-March by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Ursula von der Leyen to help EU countries contain the COVID-19 epidemic has arrived in Rome, the European Commission announced on Monday 6 April.
This is in line with the institution’s choice to reserve this aid for Italy (see EUROPE 12457/11, 12450/1).
2 million surgical masks, 200,000 N95 masks and 50,000 screening test kits were delivered by air. The Commission once again welcomed this gesture, which, in its view, constitutes a favour returned and proof that international solidarity is at work.
“In February, the EU already delivered 56 tonnes of equipment to China”, said Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič (see EUROPE 12447/1).
The Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), a pillar of the EU’s civil protection mechanism, coordinates the allocation of assistance, be it offers of European assistance in response to a request from a non-Member State or, as in this case, assistance from a non-Member State offered to the EU. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)