Coronavirus: China team brings tons of supplies to Rome

By Giada Zampano

ROME (AA) - A nine-member team of Chinese health experts flew to Rome late on Thursday to carry a large number of medical supplies to assist Italy in its ongoing battle against the escalating spread.

The China Eastern Airbus A-350 bringing the special team with 31 tons of aid to Italy landed on Thursday evening at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.

The mission was organized by the National Health Commission and the Red Cross Society of China, in connection with the Italian Foreign Ministry.

"Today China is standing up again, we’ll also get up soon,” said Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Friday, at a joint press conference with the Chinese doctors and the Italian Red Cross.

The team includes nurses, intensive care specialists and pediatricians who have actively participated in the efforts to face the coronavirus emergency in China, where the new virus, officially known as COVID-19, originated last December.

The Chinese delegation said on Friday that the specific supplies brought to Rome have proven useful during the clinical practices in China. The materials include hundreds of pieces of equipment, masks, ventilators, monitors, defibrillators and sets for intensive care unit.

“Italy is not alone. Not only China, but many other countries in the world have said they are ready to support us,” Di Maio said, adding that Rome is also readying the purchase of another two millions of protective masks and a new tranche of ventilators.

The Italian government hopes that an almost complete lockdown of the country will be able to reduce and contain the spread of the lethal virus, which has in Italy its European epicenter.

As of Friday, Italy counted almost 15,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,260 deaths -- the highest toll in Europe.

The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with more than 132,500 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which declared the outbreak a pandemic.