China has donated medical supplies to Canada to assist in the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a tweet from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa says.
The Embassy said the Bank of China donated 30,000 medial masks, 10,000 sets of protective clothing, 10,000 goggles and 50,000 pairs of gloves to Canada on Friday.
The Embassy said it would be followed by N95 medical masks.
“We are together!” the tweet reads.
A spokesperson at the Embassy told Global News the donations arrived in Toronto on Friday.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne expressed gratitude on Twitter.
“Thank you for this donation,” he said Saturday.
“In the face of a global pandemic, supporting each other is not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”
According to the PHAC, as of 6 p.m. ET on Friday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Canada had topped 4,600.
The PHAC said more than 170,600 Canadians have been tested for the virus.
Across the country, a number of businesses and factories have retooled in order to assist in the production of highly sought after medical supplies.
Canada’s chief public health officer has cautioned health officials to be smart in their use of supplies as the outbreak continues.
Canada is not the only country to receive aid from China.
On Saturday, the Pakistani foreign ministry said it was expecting a plane of medical supplies and personnel to arrive from China to help fight the spread of the virus.
China has sought to portray itself as a global leader in the fight against the outbreak, which began a few months ago in its Hubei province.
–With a file from The Associated Press