Alibaba boss Jack Ma donates 500,000 coronavirus test kits to US

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has come to the aid of the US by donating 500,000 testing kits for coronavirus.

Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Picture: AFP

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has come to the aid of the US by donating 500,000 testing kits for coronavirus. The foundation run by China’s richest man has also donated one million masks. “We join hands with Americans in these difficult times,” the Jack Ma Foundation says on Twitter.

The US currently suffers from a dangerous shortage of testing kits. The Australian has reported that fewer than 20,000 tests were conducted in the US in the first eight weeks of the coronavirus outbreak. In comparison South Korea has conducted 235,000 tests at the current rate of 10,000 per day.

This has led to claims that the US figures of infection rates are understated.

Through a donation of 500,000 testing kits and 1 million masks, we join hands with Americans in these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/tGviVhC6Gx

— Jack Ma Foundation (@foundation_ma) March 13, 2020

The Jack Ma Foundation said that it and the Alibaba Foundation had collaborated to source and donate much-needed material to combat COVID-19 to afflicted areas in Japan, Korea, Italy, Iran and Spain.

“Now we have sourced and readied for shipment 500,000 testing kits and one million masks to be donated to the United States.”

The foundation shows what it says is the first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits leaving Shanghai airport for the US.

The first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits is now leaving Shanghai airport and will arrive in the United States soon! All the best🙏 pic.twitter.com/XwRV1wNEdz

— Jack Ma Foundation (@foundation_ma) March 16, 2020

The Foundation also announced it was donating 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical-use protective suits and face shields to each of 54 African countries.

African nations so far have been spared major outbreaks of coronavirus; they are at an earlier stage of infiltration of the virus. This is in contrast to the ebola and HIV epidemics which began there and savaged the continent. The World Health Organisation says HIV is still a major cause of deaths in Africa, claiming about 470,000 lives in 2018. Ma’s foundation is hoping coronavirus there is a different story.

“We cannot ignore the potential risk to Africa and assume this continent of 1.3bn people will blissfully escape the crisis,” the foundation says. “We can take precautions now and get prepared ahead of time, as Africa can benefit from the experience and lessons from other countries that were earlier hit hard by the virus.”

Early this month the foundation signed a funding agreement with Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity to contribute $3.2m towards the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

In February, the foundation ­donated $3.2m to Columbia University in New York to identify potential antiviral drugs and antibodies for fighting the virus.