Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Trương Quốc Cường receives the donation from German Ambassador to Việt Nam Guido Hildner at the handover ceremony on Friday in Hà Nội. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health yesterday received 190,000 COVID-19 test kits worth some US$500,000 donated by German states via the World University Service of Germany (WUS).

The rapid antigen test kits are donated by the states of Hamburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Sachsen-Anhalt.

At the handover ceremony in Hà Nội, Deputy Minister of Health Trương Quốc Cường thanked the German Government and people for their precious and effective assistance to Việt Nam’s healthcare sector in the recent past, expressing his hope that medical cooperation between the two countries would continue developing in the future.

The test kits would be distributed to provinces and cities facing complex pandemic developments to serve the fight against COVID-19, he added.

He also noted that in 2020, when the pandemic first broke out in Germany, the Vietnamese Government presented 100,000 face masks to its German counterpart. Vietnamese people in the European nation also donated 100,000 masks to German states while making face masks and offering free meals to medical establishments and rest homes in the country.

German Ambassador to Việt Nam Guido Hildner said the test kits were part of Germany’s support presented via the WUS, which would call on the administrations of German states to make more donations to provide Việt Nam with about 1 million rapid COVID-19 test kits.

The aid reflected the solidarity between the two countries, not only at the governmental level but also the state level, he emphasised. — VNS