Hanoi donates face masks to New York to support Covid-19 fight

The Hanoi city government on June 1 handed over medical supplies to the US city of New York in support of their fight against Covid-19, Kinhtedothi.vn reported.

The donation consists of 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks and 50,000 medical masks, made by Vietnamese enterprises. They meet quality standards prescribed by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and are certified with CE marking of the European Union.

Hanoi donates medical supplies to New York to support Covid-19 fight. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

Hanoi mayor Nguyen Duc Chung said that during the pandemic, international cooperation and solidarity is needed to curb the Covid-19 spread and minimize its impacts on every country in the world.

"We believe that with the drastic measures the US government is taking, with the efforts and determination of its people and international cooperation, the US will soon get over the pandemic," Chung said at the handover ceremony.

For his part, US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink expressed his special thanks to the Hanoi mayor for this gift.

The ambassador praised the Vietnamese government and Hanoi’s authorities for promptly applying necessary measures to curb the pandemic spread.

The US is proud to be Vietnam's partner in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, Daniel Kritenbrink stressed.

He added that the international and the US press has also recognized that Vietnam is currently among the leading countries in containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the United States is tackling Covid-19 outbreak and New York is one of the worst affected cities, Ambassador Kritenbrink believes that Hanoi’s gift will help keep the city’s medical staff be safe and soon control the disease.

This year marks 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, thus, the ambassador stated that events like this help strengthen the partnership between Vietnam and the US in many aspects.

Earlier, on behalf of the American Red Cross, Ambassador Kritenbrink on April 29 accepted a donation of 420,000 medical masks, which included 120,000 ones donated by the Vietnam Red Cross, and 300,000 donated by the Vietnam-US Alumni Club (VUSAC)-Hanoi.

In mid-April, the Vietnamese government gifted 200,000 cloth masks to the US government and people. In addition, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made another donation of 50,000 medical masks for the White House Office.

In response, Ambassador Kritenbrink said the gift was a tremendous show of solidarity and support from Vietnam for his country, and pledged that the US would enhance collaboration with the Vietnamese side in dealing with the pandemic and in ensuring public health and safety.