AfricaNews

Africa CDC Receives Surgical Mask Donation from Canada

ADDIS ABEBA – The government of Canada has donated over 400,000 surgical masks, worth close to 2.2 million US Dollars, to Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.

The latest donation is aimed at accelerating testing, increasing treatment capacity, and curve the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Canadian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Antoine Chevrier said his government has also supported over 2.2 million US Dollar recently, together with the medical masks.

“It is our deep interest to ensure a collaborative approach with Africa and ensure the continent gets out of Covid-19,” said the ambassador.

Antoine has also indicated that his government and Africa CDC are discussing further collaboration and the two sides are currently assessing the need on the ground.

Amira El Fadil, Commissioner for Social Affairs of AU Commission, on her part commended the donation and emphasized Africa’s dire need for medical supplies in the fight against Coronavirus.

The commissioner has noted the need for global solidarity to fight the virus and strengthening the health systems and build capacity through medical supplies.

“We need further collaboration and partnership to make sure African economies back to normal and fight other related consequences,” the commissioner added.

The donation is the second of such kind the African CDC received in a week.

THe government of Germany donated SARS-CoV-2 extraction and test kits, capable of conducting 1.3 million tests, to Africa CDC on Wednesday.

A first batch of the test kits was handed over to the Africa CDC by Heiko Nitzschke, Chargé d’Affaires, at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

It is a part of a €10 million worth of non-monetary support by the German Government for COVID-19 pandemic response by the African Union, according to the embassy of Germany in Addis Ababa.

By Sisay Sahlu

[Photo File]