Turkish, Paraguayan first ladies unite against COVID-19

BUENOS AIRES

Turkey sent medical supplies to Paraguay on Monday to support its battle against the novel coronavirus.

Paraguay’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Silvana Lopez Moreira Bo, President Mario Abdo Benitez's wife, requested support from Emine Erdogan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife, for Paraguay's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

Following the Turkish first lady's positive response, the two countries' foreign and health ministries started work on sending medical supplies to Paraguay.

In order to show strong solidarity with Paraguay, Turkey sent 50,000 protective overalls, 30,000 N95 masks, 100,000 surgical masks, 2,000 protective glasses and 50,000 galoshes to the country.

According to the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry, the medical supplies have reached Brazil.

It said within a few days, all of the supplies will arrive in Paraguay.

The pandemic has killed more than 406,000 people worldwide, with more than 7 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 3.2 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.

Coronavirus-related cases and deaths throughout Latin America are increasing faster than anywhere else in the world and in the most affected countries, and they show no signs of slowing.

Paraguay has 1,145 confirmed cases and 11 deaths, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Turkey has so far delivered aid to 102 countries around the globe to help their fight against the virus.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut