Neighbor's medical aid welcomed in Laos

Workers transport medical supplies donated by China at the airport in Vientiane, Laos, on Monday. (ZHANG JIANHUA/XINHUA)

The Chinese government-donated anti-COVID-19 supplies arrived at Wattay International Airport in the Lao capital of Vientiane, with a handover ceremony held for the occasion.

The Lao People's Revolutionary Party central committee politburo member, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, and Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong attended the ceremony on Monday for the emergency assistance to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in Laos.

Kikeo said the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government swiftly dispatched a team of medical experts to Laos and provided urgently needed materials to assist the country in the prevention and control of the epidemic. This fully embodies the spirit of a community with a shared future between Laos and China.

On behalf of the Lao party, the government and the people, Kikeo sincerely thanked the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government and the Chinese people for their consistent valuable assistance. He believes the donation will provide Laos with strong support to win the battle against the virus.

The Chinese government's emergency assistance to Laos includes ventilators, automatic nucleic acid extractors, medical masks, N95 masks, mobile hospital beds, automatic autoclaves, nucleic acid extraction or purification reagents, and nucleic acid detection kits among others.

The country confirmed 35 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,362. Laos had its first two COVID-19 cases on March 24 last year.