Spain sends first shipment of Covid-19 aid to Tunisia

Aid

The aid leaving Madrid on July 16. Image: La Moncloa

The first shipment of humanitarian aid donated by the Ministries for Health and Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation has left Spain for Tunisia.

The aid shipment consists of 100,000 antigen tests, 15 transport and emergency respirators and 50,000 FFP2 masks donated by the Ministry for Health, and 122 oxygen concentrators donated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It left Spain on July 16 and is designed to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is hitting the North African country hard.

A second flight is scheduled to leave in two to three weeks with more medical supplies and aid. This second shipment will contain 24,000 PCR tests, five oxygen concentrators, two ventilators for ICU use, eight multi-parametric vital signs monitors and eight infusion pumps, all of which are essential for the fight against Covid-19. Together, this humanitarian action is worth approximately 1.1 million euros, with approximately 655,000 euros in material donated by the Ministry for Health and approximately 450,000 euros donated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In total, it involves some six tonnes of medical supplies.

The emergency operation is part of Team Europe’s response to the Tunisian authorities’ recent call for international assistance. The cost of transport is co-financed by the European Union’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).

Tunisia has the highest level of coronavirus mortality in Africa. According to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, the country has a rate of 142 Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 population, with a two-week cumulative incidence of more than 800 cases per 100,000 population and an already fragile health system overwhelmed by the growing number of patients in need of care.


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Deirdre Tynan

Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.

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