China dispatches 6.5 lakh coronavirus medical kits to India to fight COVID-19 menace: Indian envoy

China is set to deliver around 20 lakh medical kits to India including Rapid Antibody Test kits. (Representational image: AFP)


A total of 6.5 lakh coronavirus medical kits including Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits have been sent to India by China to fight the coronavirus menace, India’s ambassador to China confirmed on Thursday.

China is set to deliver around 20 lakh medical kits to India to make it quicker to detect the coronavirus in a person. As per the reports, these kits include Rapid Antibody Test kits.

It is to be noted that China – the epicentre of deadly coronavirus – has become a major supplier of medical kits to countries suffering from the disease. It has been a significant supplier of PPEs and ventilators to many countries including its new arch-rival United States of America.

In China, over 80,000 people were infected due to the virus and 3,346 were killed. However, the positive cases came to a slight pause leading to the partial opening of public places in China, especially Wuhan – the epicentre of the virus.

But as per the reports, China is now facing a new crisis as the cases of ‘asymptomatic’ patients of coronavirus are rising in the country.

A dramatic shift of the cases took to the US, Iran, Spain and Italy. Spain and Italy are now showing improvement with fall in the number of cases, but the US is still in trouble with nearly 6.5 lakh positive cases of coronavirus being reported in the country.

With an unanticipated massive surge in the cases of coronavirus in India, even after the ‘strict’ lockdown, the country has been facing a major crisis of testing kits and medical equipment to deal with the coronavirus. At the beginning of the coronavirus battle, there were many reports coming out about the scarcity of PPE to such an extent that medical professionals had to resort to wearing helmets and raincoats in order to safeguard themselves while handling the patients.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the people of India to not get ‘panic’ about getting a mask to protect themselves from the COVID-19 menace. He himself, while addressing the nation about the extension of lockdown on April 14, had covered his mouth and nose with a ‘gamcha’ rather than a mask.

As of now, there are 12,456 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported with 423 deaths.