Vietnam has provided medical equipment worth US$500,000 for China as emergency assistance to help the neighboring country cope with the epidemic of novel coronavirus (nCoV)-caused respiratory sickness.

The equipment package, comprised of including mechanical ventilators, scrubs, surgical gloves and masks, has been handed over to the Embassy of China to Vietnam, according to the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

MOFA Deputy Minister To Anh Dung hands over medical equipment to Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo. Photo: MOFA

The handover ceremony held at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on February 9 marked the attendance of MOFA Deputy Minister To Anh Dung, Head of the Vietnam Red Cross Society Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu, and Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister To Anh Dung said the medical equipment is a gift which the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, and the People of Vietnam want to give to the People of China.

“The medical equipment is the best which Vietnam has in the context that our country is also in high demand for them amid the spread of the epidemic,” Dung said in a statement.

He expressed hope that the equipment would partly contribute to the crackdown of the epidemic to help Chinese people overcome difficulties.

The Vietnamese deputy minister said Vietnam appreciates the Chinese leadership's efforts to cope with the nCoV epidemic and stands besides China in the battle against it.

Photo: MOFA

In turn, Ambassador Xiong Bo thanked the Party, State and People of Vietnam for their valuable assistance as well as compassion over the past time. He said he was touched that Vietnam’s northern provinces which have borders with China have given their support in different ways to Chinese localities.

As planned, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines conducted a flight to transport the equipment and 11 Chinese nationals to China’s Wuhan city where the epidemic broke out in December 2019. The flight will also bring a number of Vietnamese citizens in China’s Hubei province to the home country.

In another move, the Vietnam Red Cross Society has called on individuals and organizations to mobilize medical equipment worth US$100,000 to support China.

As of February 10, the nCoV epidemic has claimed 910 lives, including two outside China, and caused 40,553 infections globally.

Vietnam has reported 14 individuals infected with the virus, of them three have recovered and been discharged from hospital, and 82 others are in quarantine.