A staff member unloads a box of testing kits donated by Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation at Blaise Diagne International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, on March 28, 2020. The African Union (AU) on Thursday disclosed that about 32 African countries have so far received their respective share of medical supplies provided by the Jack Ma Foundation. (Photo by Eddy Peters/Xinhua)
ADDIS ABABA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Thursday disclosed that about 32 African countries have so far received their respective share of medical supplies provided by the Jack Ma Foundation.
The African Union (AU), through the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has so far distributed to 32 members, the 55-member pan African bloc disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday.
According to the AU, more flights are leaving tonight.
Deputy Director of Africa CDC, Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, also stressed that "distribution will be complete by March 29."
On Sunday, massive medical supplies donated by China's Jack Ma Foundation to 54 African countries arrived in Addis Ababa, capital of the East African nation of Ethiopia, through an Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight.
The donated supplies include 100,000 medical masks, 20,000 test kits and 1,000 protective suits and face shields that are being distributed to each of the 54 nations on the African continent.
On Monday, the AU also stressed that "Africa's response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has received a major boost, after the donation of medical equipment by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation."
On Thursday, the Africa CDC has disclosed that the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the African continent has reached 73 as the number of confirmed positives cases surpassed 2,819 as of Thursday.
According to figures from the Africa CDC, about 46 African countries have so far reported confirmed cases.
The Africa CDC also disclosed that some 211 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered across the continent.
