A total of 1 million masks was recently donated to Japan by a foundation run by Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma to help the country in their effort to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
In a report by Japan daily The Mainichi, it said that this was Ma’s way of giving back after Japan also helped out China during the height of the outbreak there.
However, these masks are not for the use of the general public.
The same report said that a private association that will manage the donated masks in Japan will distribute them to the medical institutions suffering from shortages after they consulted the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and other organizations on this.
In a tweet on Feb. 29, the Chinese Embassy in Japan also announced that it will give 100,000 masks and 5,000 protective suits to Japan, as well as virus diagnosis kits.
Meanwhile, Jack Ma Foundation, through its Twitter account announced that it has also signed a funding agreement with the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity to contribute AU$3.2 million towards the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus.
