Czech COVID-19 aid marked for China will instead be given to Prague hospitals, with China's blessing

Prague, March 11 (CTK) – Four tonnes of material, for which there was not enough space in a Czech military plane that took humanitarian aid for fighting the new coronavirus to China last week, will stay in the Czech Republic as China offered Czechia to keep it, Deputy PM Jan Hamacek has said.

President Milos Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said on Twitter that the aid comprising respirators, gloves and protective suits would be given to the Health Ministry that would pass it to two Prague hospitals, Bulovka and Motol, which deal with fighting the COVID-19 disease.

The Czech aircraft transported protective and disinfection devices, including for example 780,000 pairs of gloves, 43,000 face masks and respirators and 6,800 protective clothes, to China. The rest of the packages could not get in the plane due to their dimensions. Other possible transport for further four tonnes of aid to China was sought.

The aid was gathered by the Presidential Office, the Pardubice, Olomouc, South Moravia, Karlovy Vary and Vysocina regions, the town Trebic and the Skoda Auto car maker, among others.

Apart from this plane, the Czech government approved humanitarian aid for China earlier this year. An Austrian aircraft transported it to China in late February, along with aid from other EU countries.

The Czech Republic also gave six million crowns to a programme of support for countries affected and threatened by the coronavirus outbreak.