202,000 face masks, 5 ventilators, 2,000 testing kits, and 2,000 medical protective clothes will be handed over to GB officials at Khunjerav border pass on March 27th, Nazimul Amin
by Farman Ali
Islamabad: The governor of Xinjiang has announced a donation of medical equipment for Gilgit-Baltistan to combat coronavirus which is fast spreading in the mountainous region infecting over 80 people and claiming a doctor’s life.
In a letter to Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Chinese embassy’s focal person Li De on Tuesday said the Governor of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has donated the medical equipment on the request of the GB chief minister.
The embassy has requested the Pakistan government to open the Khunjerav border pass temporarily and make arrangements for the smooth delivery of the material on March 27 to the GB officials.
Giving details of the medical equipment and protective gears, Nazimul Amin, Minister and Vice-Chairman, Board of Investment (BoI) told The High Asia Herald that a truck with the first batch of the much-needed equipment comprising 200,000 ordinary face masks, 2,000 N95 face masks, 5 ventilators, 2,000 testing kits, and 2,000 medical protective clothes will arrive at Khunjerav pass on Thursday.
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“We have also requested the army to arrange a helicopter for airlifting the equipment from Khunjerav border pass to Gilgit as the road is blocked due to heavy snowfall,” he added.
The second batch of the medical equipment requested by the CM will be airlifted from the Hunan province of China to Islamabad. NDMA will receive the consignment and hand over to GB authorities, next week, he said.
He lauded the gesture of the Xinjiang governor and his prompt response on the CM’s request he had made last week.
Chief Minister Rehman in a letter to the Xinjiang Governor Shohrat Zakir had requested the Xinjiang governor to help the GB government in containing the COVID-19.
“Gilgit-Baltistan is sitting on the precipice of potential disaster. The limited knowledge and expertise are impeding our efforts,” the letter read.
He had congratulated the Chinese leadership and people for defeating the coronavirus.
“Given the scale of its prevalence, purging China of the deadly virus is not less than a miracle,” the letter read.
He congratulated President Xi Jinping and Chinese people for demonstrating exemplary discipline and determination to overcome the pandemic in the shortest possible time, providing inspiration and hope to the world.
“The idea of shared prosperity and win-win partnerships propounded by President Xi Jinping shows the way forward and is a most pressing clarion call to the world to pool their resources to fight the shared challenge,” CM Rahman concluded.
The CM had requested for 5 million masks, 100 ventilators, 5,000 rapid test kits, 15,000 protective suits Isolation ward special ICU coverall, 10 Real-Time PCR system (applied biosystem 7500), 10 biosafety cabinet BSL, 3 ultra-centrifuges, 3 autoclaves, 100,000 biohazard bags, 100,000 three-ply surgical masks, 10,000 goggles, one million hand sanitizers, 2,000 fumigation machines, 100,000 personal protective equipment (PPEs), and 10 HP LaserJet printers for real-time PCR system applied bio system-7500.
Mr Amin hoped that these equipment and protective wears will be received from China by next week.