Jack Ma Sends 1 Million Masks, 5 Lakh COVID-19 Test Kits To US, Plans To Help Africa Too

With COVID-19 spreading at an unprecedented rate globally, people are trying their best to contain this novel coronavirus. And now, China¡¯s richest business tycoon Jack Ma has donated one million face masks along with 500,000 test kits to the US. He revealed this to the world through his first tweet on his Twitter account.

Twitter: Jack Ma

The Alibaba co-founder said in a statement shared by twitter handle of the Jack Ma Foundation, ¡°Drawing from my own country¡¯s experience, speedy and accurate testing and accurate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus. We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!¡±

Reuters

He further added, ¡°this crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalised world. The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country. Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand-in-hand. At this moment we can¡¯t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.¡±

Jack Ma has also revealed that he will be donating each of the 54 African nations 20,000 testing kits with 100,000 face masks as well as 1000 medical hazmat suits with face shields.

The 55-year old billionaire has already donated millions of masks and test kids in countries like Japan, South Kora, Europe and Iran as the number of cases kept rising in these places. In January, he pledged Rs 100 crores for helping scientists develop vaccines for COVID-19.

Reuters

Another billionaire that is leaving no stones unturned to fight the spreading of COVID-19 is Bill Gates. He pledged $100 million to help in efforts containing the novel coronavirus.

He also funded 15,000 medicinal molecules to be shipped to a leading laboratory in Belgium to test and be a potential cure to the novel coronavirus. Recently, he donated Rs 37 crores for at-home testing kits for COVID-19 for people in Washington.