Vietnam will provide Laos with US$2.15 million and medical equipment for the fight against Covid-19 in “the Land of a Million Elephants.”

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung (R) and Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang on Oct 25. Photo: MoFA

The donations resulted from the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive relations, and Vietnam’s support for the pandemic fight in Laos, which has become fierce over the past two months, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung said at the handover ceremony held in Hanoi on Oct 25 with the attendance of Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang.

The latest donations added to Vietnam's list of Covid relief to Laos over the past two years, including cash, medical supplies, rice, noodle, and direct assistance by Vietnamese health workers in Laos.

In April and May 2021, hundreds of Vietnamese health workers and military medics went to offer their assistance in consultation, treatment of Covid-19 patients, testing, quarantine, and building field hospitals in Laos.

Covid-19 has spread in all 11 cities and provinces across Laos with a total of 35,000 infections. In the last few days, it saw an average of 500-600 cases per day.

Since the beginning of the global health crisis, Vietnam has offered Covid relief to dozens of countries, of them, the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia are the largest recipients.