Back in 2017, the University of Birmingham signed an agreement with three Chinese partners, including with First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University to help boost the numbers of doctors in General Practice in the Guangdong province.
This partnership has proved vital as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds in the UK. On Wednesday 25 March, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University packaged up personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to be sent over to the University of Birmingham to be distributed to healthcare professionals at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust who are treating patients with COVID-19.
The PPE is now on its way to Birmingham with 2,000 particulate filter respirators, 10,000 surgical masks, 20,000 examination gloves and 500 protective coveralls expected to arrive from China in just over a week.
These important PPE kits are crucial to keeping our NHS colleagues safe. While they currently have enough, this supply will keep them stocked up during the crisis. A huge thank you to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.