Coronavirus: China sends help to India in the form of 6,50,000 kits

Chinese firms have dispatched around 5,50,000 antibody testing kits and 100,000 RNA extraction kits to India for the prevention and control of the spread of the coronavirus across the country, which has so far seen over 12,380 positive cases with 414 people succumbing to the dangerous disease and 1,489 managing to recover, get discharged or migrate. The External Affairs Ministry is said to be playing a major role in bringing the kits to India, which will aid medical and health officials across the country to curb COVID-19 considerably.

It is said that around 3,00,000 rapid antibody testing kits from Guangzhou Wondfo and another 2,50,000 from Zhuhai Livzon and 1,00,000 RNA extraction kits from MGI Shenzhen were custom cleared late on Wednesday night with the consignment dispatched to India on Thursday morning. Vikram Misri, India's ambassador to China, during an interaction with reporters said on Tuesday that aiding in India's efforts related to COVID-19 medical equipment and keeping the drug production supply chain is perhaps the "best" way to go forward for China in terms of bilateral ties.

The dispatch of the testing kits have been possible because of the collaborative efforts between the Indian embassy in Beijing and the consulate in Guangzhou with the government asking China to step up the production and export of medical equipment such as protective clothing, ventilators and testing kits with discussions said to be ongoing related to keeping open the line for the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for manufacturing generic drugs. Misri further added that Chinese firms are under contract with the Indian government and private enterprises for nearly 15 million personal protective equipment (PPE) kits comprising gowns, gloves, masks and goggles, and 1.5 million rapid testing kits for coronavirus.