Jack Ma and AliBaba Donate 500,000 Testing Kits and 1 Million Masks to Help Check the Spread of Covid-19 in the US

Following the scarcity of face masks in the US caused by people binge shopping due to the spreading coronavirus, Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma and eCommerce company, Alibaba, through their Philanthropic foundations have donated 1 million face masks and 500,000 testing kits to the United States.

According to a tweet by Jack, the first batch of masks has already left for the US.

The first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US is taking off from Shanghai. All the best to our friends in America. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/LTn26gvlOl

— Jack Ma (@JackMa) March 16, 2020

Over 169,000 people infected with coronavirus

Since the novel coronavirus broke out in China a few months ago, the world is still trying to contain its spread. More than 140 countries across the world have reported cases of the virus.

Currently, there are more than 169,000 infected people and more than 5,000 recorded deaths. In the US, there are more than 3,000 cases of infection with about 40 fatalities.

Coronavirus panic is causing a shortage of masks

Although, efforts are being made by Governments across the world to mitigate the spread of the virus, the panic surrounding the mysterious virus is spreading so fast that it is causing different kinds of problems.

Some notable problems caused by the panic include the shortage of personal protective equipment like face masks, drop in the price of stocks, crude oil and cryptocurrency

Despite the fact that the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has said that healthy people do not need face masks, the hysteria surrounding the virus has led to people binge shopping for masks anyway.

This led to a huge shortage of masks for health officials who actually need it to fight the virus. According to the World Health Organization’s director-general, the fight against the coronavirus epidemic is being hampered by serious global shortages of face masks and protective suits.

Jack Ma donates 1 million masks to the US

Following the shortage of nose masks and the increasing need for it due to the increasing number of infections in the US, Jack Ma Foundation in collaboration with Alibaba foundation has donated testing kits and masks to help fight the virus.

Through a donation of 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks, we join hands with Americans in these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/tGviVhC6Gx

— Jack Ma Foundation (@foundation_ma) March 13, 2020

With an influx of face masks donated by Jack’s foundation and AliBaba, health officials and infected people who really need the masks can have access to it.