ROME — The Vatican announced it sent hundreds of thousands of medical masks to China this week to help forestall the spread of the coronavirus.
Vatican News reported that the masks were sent to the regions most affected by the virus, namely Hubei, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces.
The medical assistance arose as a joint initiative of the Office of Papal charities together with the Missionary Centre of the Chinese Church in Italy.
So far, there have been two cases of the coronavirus in Italy, and the Italian government has blocked all flights between Italy and China until further notice.
There have been some 17,000 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide, and China’s Health Commission reported that, so far, 361 people have died from the virus, while 475 more were diagnosed with the illness but subsequently recovered fully.