Pittsburgh is sending hundreds of thousands of surgical masks, gloves, and protective coverall suits to hospitals in its sister city of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus.
Mayor Bill Peduto told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that his office has spoken with the mayor of Wuhan and Chinese medical professionals to determine the need for “materials that would aid the first responders and the doctors … and the material that can protect the citizens.”
The Pittsburgh-based charity Brother’s Brother Foundation recently sent 180,000 surgical masks and coverall suits to medics in Wuhan and neighboring cities in China that have seen the highest numbers of coronavirus patients since the virus broke out in late 2019.
“As long as they need, we will continue to work to make sure we’re able to help with China to fight against the novel coronavirus,” said BBF President Ozzy Samad. “Everyone, especially from China, has been extremely warm and helpful and worked with us closely.”
Pittsburgh has been Wuhan’s sister city since former Hubei province residents began immigrating to the city in the 1980s. Several charities in the city have teamed up to raise money for Wuhan hospitals as well, using the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.
The Pittsburgh Hubei Fellow Association, Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Center, and the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology have collected nearly $60,000 on the site in the past month to purchase and send medical supplies to Wuhan-area hospitals.
While the Chinese government is accepting charitable donations as well as assistance from a World Health Organization response group, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not been permitted to send a similar response team to the area to help treat and contain the virus.
The total number of coronavirus cases has surpassed 79,000, and over 2,500 deaths have been confirmed.
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