Chinese billionaire Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1 million face masks to US
Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, announced Friday that he plans to donate 500,000 coronavirus test kits to the U.S. as well as 1 million face masks.
“Drawing from my own country’s experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are the most effective in preventing the spread of the virus,” Ma, who is the richest man in Asia, said in a statement posted to Twitter.
“We can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons,” he continued.
Through a donation of 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks, we join hands with Americans in these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/tGviVhC6Gx
— Jack Ma Foundation (@foundation_ma) March 13, 2020
“We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!” the statement also read.
The donation comes as many have complained that testing in the United States isn’t moving fast enough.
President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus on Friday, freeing up additional resources for the federal, state and local governments fighting the disease. He also pledged that the testing process would be overhauled and on Sunday new drive-thru testing locations would be announced.
As of Friday afternoon, 1,875 people in the U.S. had tested positive for the coronavirus. Public health officials have estimated that thousands of people likely have the virus but don’t know it, partly due to the lack of testing.
Scientists have not yet found a vaccine for COVID-19, which the World Health Organization officially characterized as a pandemic on Wednesday.
The illness, which started in China, has now spread globally with Europe becoming the latest epicenter of the outbreak.
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