TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — India's Red Cross thanked Taiwan for donating 1 million masks to help protect its front-line medical personnel at a donation ceremony in New Delhi on Friday (May 8).
On May 4, a China Airlines (CAL) jet delivered a million masks to India. At Friday's ceremony, Taiwan's representative to India, Tien Chung-kwang (田中光), formally handed over 950,000 of the medical masks to Neel Kamal Singh, deputy secretary general of the Indian Red Cross Society.
In exchange, Singh handed Tien an official thank you letter composed by the Red Cross' Secretary General R.K. Jain. In the letter and in a speech delivered by Singh, the organization thanked Taiwan for donating the masks to help protect Indian medical staff during their fight against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).
During an interview with CNA, Singh pointed out that front-line Red Cross staff must go out into the community to provide medical services and distribute food to those in need on a daily basis. He estimated that in the process, Red Cross medical staff and volunteers come in contact with about 250,000 people per day, adding that these masks will go a long way to better protect them from infection.
Highlighting Taiwan's achievements in fighting off the virus, Tien said, "Taiwan has shown to the world that due to preemptive preparations, the right policy implemented by the government, the trust established by the people towards the government and the lesson learned after the 2003 SARS [outbreak], Taiwan has been recognized and praised greatly by international communities and countries . . . in terms of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic," reported the Hindustan Times.
Tien then lauded India as an "important and valued partner of Taiwan” and expressed his confidence that the country would overcome the challenges and revive its economy.
The remaining 50,000 masks will be donated by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in New Delhi to groups in need. Tien noted that since April 9, Taiwan has donated over 20 million masks to countries hard hit by the pandemic.
