Vietnam donates 6,000 test tubes to Germany for Covid-19 cure trials

The Vietnamese-German Center of Excellence in Medical Research (VG-CARE) in Hanoi delivered the test tubes Monday, according to the German Embassy. The test tubes would be used in clinical trials for a Covid-19 cure, carried out by the University of Tübingen, the University of Hamburg and the University of Stuttgart. Trials begin Wednesday.

At present, Germany doesn't have enough test tubes to properly commence trials, the press release added.

Germany has so far recorded over 71,800 Covid-19 cases, with a death toll of at least 775.

Previously, Vietnam had supported neighbors Laos and Cambodia with $200,000 worth of medical equipment to aid the Covid-19 fight.

Meanwhile, Japan would aid Vietnam with at least $1.85 million to stem the pandemic, said Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in a telephonic conference with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on Tuesday, according to the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The U.S. would further aid Vietnam with nearly $3 million to prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts in response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control of the ongoing crisis, the U.S. Department of State announced March 27.

Vietnam has so far recorded 212 Covid-19 cases, of whom 63 have been discharged. Many of the active cases are those returned from Europe and the U.S. and those who’d come in close contact with them.

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far spread to 203 countries and territories, claiming over 43,000 lives.