简体中文
A group of Chinese medical workers arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday to assist the East African country in the fight against COVID-19.
The twelve-member Chinese anti-pandemic medical expert team includes medical experts specializing in various public health sectors including general surgery, epidemiology, respiratory, infectious diseases, critical care, clinical laboratory and integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
Ethiopian Ministers of Health, Lia Tadesse, emphasized the crucial role that the Chinese medical experts' team would play in Ethiopia's efforts to contend the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The highly trained experts and professionals who have been active in COVID-19 response in China and with frontline experience came here along with support from the Chinese government," Tadesse told Xinhua.
"They are going to share with us their experiences on how they have been doing the response and areas of collaboration. They have also brought commodities especially related to personal protective equipment in terms of infection prevention, which are highly needed in these times for those who are giving services," the Ethiopian health minister added.
On Thursday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health has announced seven new confirmed COVID-19 positive cases, bringing the total number of cases to 92.
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across Ethiopia and beyond the African continent, the Chinese anti-pandemic medical expert team was dispatched by the Chinese government upon the request of the Ethiopian government. The team will be working in Ethiopia for 15 days as planned.
The healthcare professionals, who are drawn from various anti-pandemic medical expertise, are expected to share their experience in the fight against COVID-19 as well as provide advice on prevention and control of COVID-19 with local hospitals and experts.
The Chinese anti-pandemic medical team will also cooperate and exchange views with the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Ethiopia.
Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Tan Jian, said that China's decision to send Chinese medical experts' team to Ethiopia is a full demonstration of solidarity as well as the two countries' strong comprehensive ties.
China, as a proven partner of Ethiopia across various governance and development sectors, will strengthen its support to Ethiopia in the fight against the coronavirus, the ambassador stressed.
The Chinese medical experts' team, which is said to be among the very first batch of anti-pandemic medical teams that China dispatched to the African continent since the COVID-19 outbreak, is "a full demonstration of solidarity, with the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and an epitome of the comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership between China and Ethiopia," said Tan.
The team also arrived in the Ethiopian capital carrying urgently needed medical supplies including protective equipment, and traditional Chinese medicine that has been tested effective by clinical practice. Traditional Chinese medicine and the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine is one of the critical factor of China's success in prevention and control of COVID-19, it was noted.
The Chinese medical experts also emphasized their resolve to apply their experience in supporting the East African country in the fight against COVID-19.
Zeng Zhiyong, a team member and who is also the head of infection-control department at West China Hospital Sichuan University, told Xinhua that the team members will spare no efforts in fulfilling their mission by way of in-depth exchanges of close to three-months experiences with Ethiopian experts and officials.
Zeng, who noted that Ethiopia and other fellow African countries are now experiencing a rising rate of COVID-19, also stressed that "now is the moment to effectively contend the spread of the virus before its further spread."
