China supplying medical supplies to the Solomon Islands, to the United Kingdom and the United States.
It has been widely reported in recent days that the Chinese Government gave $300,000 to the Solomon Islands government last week in support of local efforts to combat coronavirus.
It has also been mentioned in media reports that the Chinese Government in Beijing has sent two ships from Guangdong carrying several thousand face masks and protective suits donated by Guangdong province.
The Chinese Embassy in Honiara to buy equipment from the official Beijing Genomics Institution.
It is perhaps unknown that on 2 April, Virgin Atlantic, in the United Kingdom, restarted its flights to Shanghai on behalf of the UK’s National Health Service.
Virgin Atlantic has become the first British airline to restart flights to China to bring back much needed medical supplies for the front-line health care workers.
The flights resumed with support from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Department of Health, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the British Embassy in Beijing.
Perhaps also unknown is the fact that the White House in the United States approved the airlift of medical supplies from China towards the end of March.
According to a report in the New York Times on 29 March 2020 a plane delivered 130,000 N95 masks, 1.8 million face masks, 10 million gloves and thousands of thermometers for distribution to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The same news report said the USA will require 3.5 billion masks if the coronavirus pandemic lasts a year.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
