SL receives 20,000 COVID-19 testing kits from Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundations

Friday, 17 April 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Daraz Sri Lanka Managing Director Rakhil Fernando handing over the donation to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa

Daraz MD hands over special donation to Govt.

Alibaba Group, the parent company of Daraz Sri Lanka, has donated 20,064 COVID-19 test kits to the Ministry of Health yesterday.

The donation was handed over by Daraz Sri Lanka Managing Director Rakhil Fernando on behalf of the donor foundations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The test kits, which were flown down to Sri Lanka from Shanghai on a special flight, will help the Government in identifying potential COVID-19 patients more efficiently, thereby allowing the frontline medical teams to provide immediate care to reduce the spread and help in flattening the curve. The kits are produced by DAAN Gene Co., a globally renowned listed company focused on R&D and manufacturing of in-vitro diagnostic products. The estimated total donations and healthcare support value from Daraz’s parent company to Sri Lanka has been Rs. 50 million thus far.

Fernando also discussed the current situation of the country with the Prime Minister and emphasised Daraz’s capacity to serve around 15,000 households daily through their extended seller base and large logistical network. The learnings from the parent company Alibaba during its operations at the time of the SARS epidemic in 2003 will help Daraz operate efficiently. “Daraz is willing to continue the support to the Government of Sri Lanka at these trying times by providing essential services to a large number of households island-wide,” commented Fernando.

In addition, Daraz Sri Lanka facilitated a video conference call between Chinese officials and medical officers who have been at the centre of fighting COVID-19 in China and the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka. The call organised by the Alibaba Foundation enabled the team from China to share their experiences in battling COVID-19 from the epicentre and the best practices in mitigating the spread of the virus.

Alibaba has been one of the groups at the forefront in the worldwide fight against COVID-19 through continuous supplies of medical support to Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. It has donated 100,000 masks two weeks ago.