Jack Ma and Alibaba Groups have delivered 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million face masks and 60,000 protective suits, to be distributed throughout Africa. This is the first wave of the Covid-19 relief package promised by the billionaire following the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic into Africa.
According to a tweet by the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed Ali, the first wave of relief package has arrived in Africa and will be distributed to other countries today.
The arrival of Jack’s relief package comes just days after Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundations donated 1 million face masks and 500,000 testing kits to the United States.
Over 1,000 people infected in Africa
Since Covid-19 first broke out in Wuhan, China in December 2019, it has spread progressively across 167 countries infecting over 330,000 people and causing over 14,000 deaths.
More than 330,000 recorded cases and over 14,000 fatalities Globally
In Africa, the Covid-19 virus has spread to 43 out of 54 countries on the continent. There have been more than 1,000 recorded cases of infection with a total of 34 reported deaths.
Governments across the continent have continued to roll out increasingly robust measures to halt the spread of the pandemic. However, the number of cases recorded is still on the increase.
The fragility of the African healthcare system calls for emergency measures to nip the spread before hospitals become crowded.
One of the measures of curbing the virus is quick testing but the current model of testing the virus is tedious and could take up to get the results. Although fasters measure is already being developed, it has not yet been deployed in Africa.
Earlier when the virus spread into the continent, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma and Alibaba revealed plans to distribute about 20,000 test kits and 100,000 masks per African country.
Over 1.1 million test kit to be distributed
With the first batch already on the ground in Africa, countries can begin to receive extra testing kits to speed up the testing of the virus. There are also protective equipment for health workers and also get more facemasks for the increasing number of infected people.
Egypt has the highest number of infections in Africa with 324 recorded cases and reported 14 deaths
Here are some of the countries with the highest number of infections in the continent that could be prioritized while sharing relief materials.
- Egypt – 327 recorded cases of infection with 14 fatalities
- South Africa – 274 recorded cases of infection with 0 fatalities
- Algeria – 201 recorded cases of infection with 17 fatalities
- Morocco – 115 recorded cases of infection with 4 fatalities
- Burkina Faso – 75 recorded cases of infection with 4 fatalities
36 recorded cases of infection with 1 reported death in Nigeria
Over the last few days, the number of infected people in Nigeria has increased exponentially. The number of infected increased from 12 on the 19th of March to 36 on the 23rd of March. There has also been one reported fatality.
With the increasing spread of the virus, the more relief packages the country can get will better help the country curb the spread.
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