Africa gets emergency medical supplies from China's Jack Ma
Elias Meseret | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 8 months AGO
A cargo flight containing over 6 million medical items including face masks, test kits, face shields and protective suits arrives in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 22, 2020. The supplies arriving from Guangzhou, China for fighting the spread in Africa of the COVID-19 coronavirus were donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and will be distributed from Ethiopia to countries throughout Africa. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
A cargo flight containing over 6 million medical items including face masks, test kits, face shields and protective suits arrives in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 22, 2020. The supplies arriving from Guangzhou, China for fighting the spread in Africa of the COVID-19 coronavirus were donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and will be distributed from Ethiopia to countries throughout Africa. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
National Coordinator Dr Shumete Gizaw, center-right, hands over a box of medical supplies to Minister of Health Dr Lia Tadesse, center-left, after a cargo flight containing over 6 million medical items including face masks, test kits, face shields and protective suits arrived in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 22, 2020. The supplies arriving from Guangzhou, China for fighting the spread in Africa of the COVID-19 coronavirus were donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and will be distributed from Ethiopia to countries throughout Africa.(AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
A cargo flight containing over 6 million medical items including face masks, test kits, face shields and protective suits arrives in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 22, 2020. The supplies arriving from Guangzhou, China for fighting the spread in Africa of the COVID-19 coronavirus were donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and will be distributed from Ethiopia to countries throughout Africa. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
A cargo flight containing over 6 million medical items including face masks, test kits, face shields and protective suits arrives in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 22, 2020. The supplies arriving from Guangzhou, China for fighting the spread in Africa of the COVID-19 coronavirus were donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and will be distributed from Ethiopia to countries throughout Africa. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
A cargo flight containing over 6 million medical items including face masks, test kits, face shields and protective suits arrives in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday, March 22, 2020. The supplies arriving from Guangzhou, China for fighting the spread in Africa of the COVID-19 coronavirus were donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation and will be distributed from Ethiopia to countries throughout Africa. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)
Young Christian faithful of the Legio Maria African Mission attend a Sunday mass service in the Kibera slum of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, March 22, 2020. In Kenya, the Ministry of Health has banned all public gatherings and meetings in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 but has permitted normal church services to continue so long as they provide hand sanitizing or washing facilities to attendees. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Young Christian faithful of the Legio Maria African Mission attend a Sunday mass service in the Kibera slum of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, March 22, 2020. In Kenya, the Ministry of Health has banned all public gatherings and meetings in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 but has permitted normal church services to continue so long as they provide hand sanitizing or washing facilities to attendees. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A woman attends a Sunday mass service at the Nairobi Baptist Church, which was streamed live on the internet with almost no attendees in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, in the capital Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, March 22, 2020. In Kenya, the Ministry of Health has banned all public gatherings and meetings in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 but has permitted normal church services to continue so long as they provide hand sanitizing or washing facilities to attendees. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Christian faithful of the Africa Inland Church attend a Sunday mass service in the Kibera slum of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, March 22, 2020. In Kenya, the Ministry of Health has banned all public gatherings and meetings in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 but has permitted normal church services to continue so long as they provide hand sanitizing or washing facilities to attendees. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Christian faithful of the Legio Maria African Mission sanitize their hands before attending a Sunday mass service in the Kibera slum of the capital Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, March 22, 2020. In Kenya, the Ministry of Health has banned all public gatherings and meetings in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 but has permitted normal church services to continue so long as they provide hand sanitizing or washing facilities to attendees. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A masked newspaper seller waits to make a sale in the virtually empty Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg, Sunday, March 22, 2020. There is a noticeable drop in crowds of shoppers at malls due the spread of the coronavirus. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms . For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
A masked shopper leaves a virtually empty shopping mall in Johannesburg, Sunday, March 22, 2020. There is a noticeable drop in crowds of shoppers at malls due the spread of the coronavirus. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms . For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
A mime artist performs for two children after getting a donation at a virtually empty Mall in Johannesburg, Sunday, March 22, 2020. There is a noticeable drop in crowds of shoppers at malls due the spread of the coronavirus. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms . For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Africa has received a much-needed coronavirus care package from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
A cargo flight containing more than 6 million medical items arrived Sunday in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. The supplies from Ma, the founder of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, will be distributed to African countries in need of supplies to battle the spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
An Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight from Guangzhou, China arrived with 5.4 million face masks, 1.08 million testing kits, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 protective face shields, according to Ethiopian officials and the Jack Ma Foundation.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week pledged to distribute the supplies to other countries in Africa. Ma has sent similar shipments of medical supplies to countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.
The virus has been slow to reach Africa but has now spread to at least 43 of the continent's 54 countries, with more than 1,100 cases confirmed. In response many African countries are imposing restrictions.
Mozambique announced its first case Sunday and a set of new restrictions including cancelling all visas to the country, closing schools and banning gatherings of more than 50 people.
Kenya announced new restrictions Sunday, after it confirmed eight new cases, bringing its total to 15. It closed all bars as of midnight Sunday and halted all services at churches and mosques, saying that the houses of worship had not implemented safe social distancing. Kenya also suspended all international passenger flights effective Wednesday and closed the border posts to neighboring Uganda, except for the transport of cargo.
Rwanda and Tunisia have announced lockdowns, ordering people to stay at home except for essential reasons.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 190 million people, just three weeks ago announced the first coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa. Now with 22 cases, it stopped all incoming international flights on Saturday.
Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways, two of Africa's largest airlines, announced sweeping cancellations of international flights. South Africa has stopped allowing foreigners to disembark from incoming international flights.
In South Africa, normally bustling shopping malls in Johannesburg, Cape Town and other urban centers have few shoppers, many wearing face masks.
Although most people only experience minor flu-like symptoms from the coronavirus and recover within a few weeks, the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those who do not show symptoms. It can cause severe illness, including pneumonia, in some patients, particularly those with underlying health problems. This poses a threat to many African health systems, which experts warn do not have sufficient resources to cope with a large influx of patients needing isolation and intensive care.
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Meldrum and AP photographer Denis Farrell contributed from Johannesburg. Tom Bowker contributed from Maputo, Mozambique.
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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
ARTICLES BY ANDREW MELDRUM
South Africa quickens vaccine drive, gets more doses from US
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The cars lined up by the strikingly modern mosque and were guided to parking bays where the drivers soon got jabs.
South Africa quickens vaccine drive, gets more doses from US
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The cars lined up by the strikingly modern mosque and were guided to parking bays where the drivers soon got jabs.
South Africa quickens vaccine drive, gets more doses from US
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The cars lined up by the strikingly modern mosque and were guided to parking bays where the drivers soon got jabs.