UN delivers 90 tons of coronavirus aid to Venezuela

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - A plane with 90 tons of UN medical aid arrived in Venezuela in assistance to combat the novel coronavirus in the country.

The shipment arrived on Wednesday and includes 28,000 personal protective equipment for front-line healthcare workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, products for water quality control and hygiene kits among others, according to the UN News website.

"These supplies for children, women and families will initially support 14 hospitals designated for the COVID-19 response, as well as 50 outpatient clinics and child development centers," said Herve Ludovic de Lys, UNICEF representative in Venezuela.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro also confirmed the arrival of aid and thanked international organizations and "the brotherly" peoples of the world in a Twitter message.

Supplies were funded by international donors, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and funds from UN agencies.

Although the tally of coronavirus-related cases and deaths in Venezuela is not as alarming as the rest of the world, the country has been in precipitous decline following a global downturn in the price of crude oil, the country's main export item.

Due to dire economic crisis and political crisis between Maduro and the opposition leader Juan Guaido -- since the beginning of 2019, already nearly 5 million Venezuelans fled their homeland.

The country also has been under firm U.S. economic and diplomatic sanctions for more than a year as Washington recognizes Guaido as the country's legitimate ruler instead of elected President Maduro.

According to the running tally of U.S. based Johns Hopkins University, Venezuela has 167 coronavirus cases and nine fatalities, with 65 recoveries so far.