Qatar Emir sends portable hospitals to Italy to help fight coronavirus
Qatar Emir sends portable hospitals to Italy to help fight coronavirus
2 min read
The Gulf country's ruler is flying field hospitals to Italy to deliver urgent medical aid to one of the centres of Europe's coronavirus outbreak.
Qatar's Emir visited Italy in 2018, to discuss bilateral deals including health sector [AFP]
Planes loaded with mobile hospitals and equipment bound for Italy left Qatar on Wednesday, after the Gulf country's ruler pledged medical aid to help fight the novel coronavirus.
Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani gave directions to fly medical supplies and equipment to Italy, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The two field hospitals sent will house 1,000 beds combined, the Italian Embassy in Qatar said.
Two military aircraft carrying the cargo have already left for Italy. According to the Qatar national agency report, two more planes loaded with medical aid will be sent on Thursday.
Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister, Luigi Di Maio, expressed his country's graditute for the international response to Italy's appeal for medical equiment.
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The minister also thanked Qatar for its donation.
The coronavirus outbreak has sparked a shortage of medical supplies globally – and especially in hard-hit Europe – increasing demands for faster cargo delivery, to fly in medical supplies and equipment. Freight cargo and chartered flight prices have also skyrocetted, reports said.
Field hospitals – normally used to in military operations to treat on-site before patients are transported to a hospital – can be utilised in times of disaster when hospitals lack the capacity for more patients.
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Qatar confirmed its first death from coronavirus on March 28. Since then, the country has only recorded three more deaths resulting from infection, while a total of 1832 cases have been confirmed, according to figures released by the World Health Organisation Tuesday.
In Europe, Italy has recorded the highest number of total deaths resulting from coronavirus infection. As of Tuesday, the WHO reported 16,000 deaths. Italy tallied another 604 after the daily report was published.
Italy has expressed dismay over the European Commission's initial response and failure to send immediate medical aid to the country, where the virus has stretched hospitals stretched to the breaking point.
Italy is now seeing a downward trend with the number of cases reported each day decreasing.
Read more: Somalia sends 20 doctors to Italy to help in coronavirus fightQatar confirmed its first death from coronavirus on March 28. Since then, the country has only recorded three more deaths resulting from infection, while a total of 1832 cases have been confirmed, according to figures released by the WHO Tuesday.
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