Large shipment of Chinese protective equipment arrives in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - More than 20 tons of Chinese protective equipment, including masks for medical staff, arrived here on Friday, according to the Slovenian press agency STA.

This batch of 1.1 million FFP2 masks, along with almost 30,000 protective uniforms for doctors and 1.995 million gloves, is one of the largest such shipments since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, STA said.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, sharing photos from the airport on Twitter, said that "the holidays will be calmer" now.

Another plane carrying seven tons of protective equipment is scheduled to arrive from Qingdao, China soon, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said.

The plane will bring more than 1.1 million protective face masks and other protective equipment donated by Chinese cities twinned with Slovenian cities, Slovenian and Chinese companies, the Association of Chinese Businesses in Slovenia, the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Slovenian community in China and a number of individuals, the Foreign Ministry added.

The ministry thanked those involved for their donations, saying they made a concrete contribution and expressed their solidarity with Slovenia in the difficult time of combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slovenia registered 1,160 confirmed infections with 45 deaths as of Thursday, according to the latest official tally on Friday.