Beijing, March 17: Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Xiaomi and Oppo have donated masks and other medical equipment to the countries severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic Smartphone manufacturer Oppo announced that it has donated 300,000 masks to five countries other than China. The company has donated FFP3 as well as N95 masks to Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Japan, GizmoChina reported on Monday. Jack Ma Joins Twitter, Says First Shipment of Masks & Coronavirus Test Kits to US From Shanghai to be Shipped Soon.

Earlier this month, Xiaomi donated FFP3 surgical masks to the Italian Civil Protection Department as it was the most affected country outside of China, where the virus first emerged last December. Additionally, Alibaba Founder and billionaire Jack Ma joined Twitter, sending out his tweet that the first shipment of 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits are on way to US.

The Jack Ma Foundation in January announced it will donate 100 million yuan ($14 million) to support research and development of a coronavirus vaccine. The number of cases worldwide have surpassed 179,330, with over 7,120 deaths. Several European nations have enacted country-wide lockdowns, including France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland.

The number of active coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 24,747, but the increase was at its slowest pace since March 1, signalling the start of a tipping point for the outbreak in the country, deemed as the epicentre of the pandemic in Europe. The death toll in China has increased to 3,226, authorities said on Tuesday, while the number of confirmed cases in the Asian country has risen to 80,881.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2020 12:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).