A 10-member Chinese medical expert team has arrived in Dhaka on Monday to help Bangladeshi physicians fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The expert team came from Hainan province of China and will stay in Bangladesh for 15 days.
They will share their experiences in managing the coronavirus outbreak with Bangladeshi health experts and others concerned, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen who welcomed the team in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the capital.
Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming and senior officials of the health ministry were also present during this time.
While briefing the press, Dr Momen said that at the onset of the corona transmission in Bangladesh, he had requested the Chinese foreign minister to send an expert team.
“And later, during a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Chinese President Xi Jinping assured her that a Chinese expert team would be sent to Bangladesh,” he said.
“I am happy that they have arrived. We welcome them and hope that our health professionals will be benefitted by the sharing of their experiences,” the foreign minister said.
Dr Momen pointed out that China is successful in containing the coronavirus and all the other countries are now following their methods.
“Social isolation is also introduced by them,” he said adding that since the beginning of the pandemic in the country, China has been helping Bangladesh in battling the COVID-crisis.
However, the minister also observed that managing the pandemic is not possible alone by a country and it requires a global partnership.
Ambassador Li Jiming said that China has become the first country to send a medical expert team to Bangladesh to help the country in its fight against the coronavirus.
These experts have the ground level experience in handling the corona situation and they can contribute to Bangladesh’s efforts in fighting the pandemic, he said.
Head of the expert team Li Wen said that they had taken preparations for one month before coming to Bangladesh.
“But we still require a lot of data to understand the situation here”, he noted.
“We will share our experiences in fighting the pandemic with the health professionals here,” Li Wen said.
