June 6 (EIRNS)—China began producing face masks and personal protective equipment to fight COVID-19, at a factory in Uganda, that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni just recently commissioned, beginning the production of such equipment on African soil, a positive development for the continent.
The June 1 South China Morning Post reported, “In landlocked Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni last week commissioned two production lines at Lida Packaging Products, a Chinese-owned firm making face masks and personal protective equipment, to plug shortages as the country battles to contain the spread of coronavirus.”
“The factory in the central Ugandan town of Mbalala, can produce up to 560,000 masks per day and employs 315 Ugandans.” Further, the Chinese company Simi Technologies, which is primarily a producer of low-cost phones and laptops, and which employs 400 Ugandans, has now started making protective eyewear and affordable digital temperature guns to help fight COVID-19. The Chinese decision to build plants specifically dedicated to making medical masks et al in Uganda means that China is attempting to situate such capabilities in the country.
China’s General Administration of Customs has documented China is the world’s leading exporter of equipment to fight the virus, to countries around the world (between March 1 and May 16), including export of: 50.9 billion face masks, 216 million protective garments, 81 million goggles, 162 million novel coronavirus testing kits, 72,700 ventilators, 26 million infrared thermometers, and 1 billion surgical gloves. [ref]
The Medical Project 