TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Taiwan has donated 200,000 medical face masks to Thailand as part of its initiative to provide aid to countries hit hard by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Thailand has recorded 2,700 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday morning (April 21) with nearly 50 deaths. “Thailand is an important partner targeted by the government’s New Southbound Policy,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉), who went on to say that Taiwan looked forward to fostering reciprocal collaborations with Thailand on disease prevention as well as other medical-related areas.

On Monday, the deputy minister officially handed the masks to the Thai Representative to Taiwan, Thongchai Chasawath, during a donation ceremony in Taipei. The representative expressed appreciation for the Taiwanese government and people, saying that the masks would go to the southern region of the country where the virus outbreak had escalated.

The donation to Thailand is part of the government’s initiative to provide face masks to other countries, now that the island nation's daily production of masks has surged significantly. Only when including Taiwan will the global disease prevention efforts be comprehensive, said Taiwan’s foreign ministry, adding that the country has provided medical aid to the international community to help fight the virus and shared the nation’s approach to dealing with the virus.