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WHO sends first medics, supplies to Iran to fight coronavirus
DUBAI, March 2, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The World Health Organization on Monday
sent its first planeload of assistance to Iran to help fight coronavirus,
dispatching six medics with tonnes of medical equipment and test kits aboard
a UAE military aircraft.
“Today’s flight will carry 7.5 tonnes of medical equipment and supplies,
primarily the critical items needed for infection prevention and control to
support health care workers in Iran,” said Robert Blanchard from the WHO in
Dubai.
As the supplies worth more than $300,000 — including gloves, surgical
masks and respirators — were loaded onto the United Arab Emirates military
transport plane in Dubai, Blanchard warned that global supplies were running
low.
“What we see now is that demand has greatly exceeded our available
stocks… and we are struggling to get access to more supplies.”
The six-member medical team is made up of doctors, epidemiologists and
laboratory specialists who will help the Islamic republic detect and control
the virus, Blanchard said, adding it was the first WHO team to be sent to
Iran since the crisis began.
Iran on Monday raised its coronavirus death toll to 66 — the highest
outside China — with 1,501 confirmed cases
WHO operations manager Nevien Attalla said some 15,000 health workers in
Iran would benefit from the supplies which were the “first big shipment which
supports the response to coronavirus”.
“Iran is a challenging country. You don’t have always easy approvals to
go,” she said.
The UAE provided the military transport plane for the flight to Tehran
despite having downgraded its relations with the Islamic republic amid fierce
rivalry between Iran and regional power Saudi Arabia.
Gulf states have announced a raft of measures to cut links with Iran to
curb the spread of the virus, cutting off transport links and telling
citizens not to visit.
Some 129 cases have been confirmed across the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman
and Qatar, many of them pilgrims returning from Iran.
“Aid should reach all people regardless of their background,” Sultan
Mohammed Al Shamsi, the UAE’s undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, said
at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport.
BSS/AFP/SSS/2011 hrs