Hundreds of thousands of medical gowns have been donated by Saudi Arabia to the UK as the UK sees the third most deaths from Coronavirus in the world. Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary & First Secretary of State of the UK, thanked Saudi Arabia on behalf of the United Kingdom.
The UK Government has been criticised for lack of preparedness and shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists and Care Home workers all complained of the lack PPE. Family members of front line health care professionals who died due to Coronavirus complained to the UK Government about lack of PPE.
Saudi Arabia has pledged SAR 1.8 Billion Riyals ($500 Million) to international organisations to tackle Coronavirus Covid-19. Just under SAR 100 Million Riyals ($25 Million) was donated to the efforts in Yemen to combat disease as well as donated hundreds of thousands of thermal cameras, protective masks, intravenous fluids and intravenous infusion pumps.
Saudi Arabia also signed six contracts with China and pledged to help them in their fight against Coronavirus. This will include providing 300,000 protective masks, 1,159 medical devices, and 1,000 isolation suits. Saudi Arabia will also provide China with medical equipment, such as ultrasound machines, non-invasive ventilators, and defibrillators.
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) signed a contract to help the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat Coronavirus. Saudi Arabia has donated $10Million to the WHO which was used to purchase safety kits for health workers and laboratory equipment to boost research to find a vaccine for the Coronavirus.
Saudi Arabia itself is now seeing a surge in new cases with 4,507 new cases today bringing the total in the Kingdom to 132,048. Although strict measures in Saudi Arabia have meant only 0.034% of infected people (1,011 people) have lost their lives. The UK has nearly 295,889 cases but 0.141% of infected people (41,698) have lost their lives.
We explored why the Arab countries have tackled Coronavirus better than the West in an article you can visit by clicking here.
