Vietnam donates medical supplies to Japan, US

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son symbolically handed over 250,000 masks to the American Ambassador to Vietnam, Daniel Kritenbrink, at a ceremony.

The U.S. is the worst hit country with over 678,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 34,000 deaths so far.

Kritenbrink thanked the Vietnamese government and people and said the donation was a tremendous show of solidarity and support.

The same day Son also gifted face masks and other medical supplies worth $100,000 to Japan.

He said Vietnam and Japan had quickly instituted cooperation within bilateral and multilateral frameworks to combat the pandemic, including coordination to successfully hold an online Special ASEAN 3 Summit on Covid-19 on Tuesday.

Japan has had over 9,000 cases and 190 deaths, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare an emergency on Thursday.

Government Office chief Mai Tien Dung handed over to Russian Ambassador Konstantin Vnukov 50,000 masks to add to the 150,000 Vietnam had donated on April 13.

On April 7 Vietnam had donated 550,000 masks to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K., which have been battered by the pandemic and face a critical shortage of medical supplies.

Vietnam also sent medical equipment to China, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Laos.

Vietnamese companies are capable of producing eight million antibacterial cloth face masks a day, and the government has allowed their export after domestic demand is met.

Vietnam has had 268 cases as of Friday morning, with 91 people now in hospital and the remaining 177 being discharged after recovering.

Covid-19 has spread to 210 countries and territories, claiming 145,551 lives.