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International community supports Kenya in fight against Covid-19

By Amina Wako April 10th, 2020 2 min read

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo and CAS Ababu Namwamba has been mobilizing international support for Kenya’s national anti-Covid-19.

When the National Emergency Response Committee was formed, each Ministry was given a responsibility to play in the fight against Covid-19.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Standing Committee on Emergency Response (SCER) chaired by CAS Ababu has been receiving massive support from the international communities.

So far, they have received support from IGAD, China and UAE, and commitments from Japan, South Korea, and India. Australia Austria.

Other countries like Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Jordan, New Zealand, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America have also made pledges, and the Ministry has been making follow-ups.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development(IGAD) on Tuesday donated Sh10 million to the Kenyan Government towards the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

CONTRIBUTIONS

The contribution should be allocated to the most pressing and critical needs of the vulnerable communities in the member Country and purchase medical equipment.

The Chinese government has donated 2 tons of medical supplies, including masks, protective suits, goggles, non-contact forehead infrared thermometers, gloves & shoe covers.

The consignment that was received on April 1, 2020, also included Assorted Covid-19 rapid testing kits 100,000 pcs, Sample collection kits 100,000 pcs, and Testing kits 50,000 pcs, among other things.

The Kits are being validated at Kenya Medical Research Institute KEMRI.

The Ministry has also received the first donation from Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation.

The first consignment which was received on March 24 had 20,000 Testing Kits, 100,000 Masks 1,000 Protective Suits, and face shields.

However, the testing kits received from Jack Ma Foundation could not be used as they were not stored in solid ice.

PLEDGES 

The second consignment from Jack Ma, which was announced on April 6, 2020, includes Ventilators, Protective Suits & face shields, Thermometers, Swab, and extraction kits.

The exact numbers will be known when the donation arrives in the country.

Hua Jian Group, based in China, has given the government of Kenya 500 disposable Protective Suits,500 disposable isolation gowns, 3000 N-95 respirator, 3,000 surgical face masks, 40 non-contact forehead infrared thermometers and 60,000 normal face masks.

Southern china cargo airline is expected to deliver the consignment in the country between April 9 and 10.

Hecin Scientific Inc has shared 8,000 testing kits and 1,500 testing kits.

Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wuhan Institute of Virology has donated 100 RT-PCR test kits (5,000) 500 Ig/G/IgM antibody test kits (1,000),

The RT-PCR kit has been accredited by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and has obtained the European CE marking (Ref. IVD001118).

EQUIPMENT

Administrative Committee of Changsha National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone has given 10,000 disposable masks and 10,000 disposable mask. The donation will be shared equally by the Ministry of Health and Kenya Medical Supplies Authority(KEMSA).

Department of Commerce Provincial Government of Hunan gives Kenyan government 500 rapid testing kits, 1,000 isolation gowns, 1,000 surgical gowns, 200 infrared electric thermometers, 10,000 disposal and surgical masks.

Dongguan Ruikang Medical Equipment Technology Co., Ltd has given 20,000 disposable masks, Japan negative pressure ambulances and negative pressure capsules.

All the above pledges have been taken to the Kenyan Embassy in Beijing.

Government of the Republic of Korea has donated 2 Ambulances, 100,000 Personal Protection Equipment, 20,000 laboratory test kits, 20,000 laboratory sample collection kits, 1,000 ICU beds, ventilators, monitors, accessories, 5,0000 assorted pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceuticals.

The Koreans have also donated 50 negative pressure ambulances, 14 negative pressure capsules, 20,000 N95 masks, laboratory equipment, infection prevention control materials (sanitizers, disinfectants, soap, chlorine) and 10 incinerators.