In the month of January and February, when Coronavirus was at its peak in China, the Chinese students in the US shipped close to 3.4 million personal protective equipment (PPE) to Wuhan - the epicenter of the COVID 19 outbreak, a report has revealed.
The Chinese student Associations in America had then given a call to raise funds to buy PPEs and the campaign was being coordinated from Alabama.
As per a report published in the February 6 edition of The Economic Observer, a Beijing-based Chinese newspaper, reported of how 'young heroes of China" the Chinese students raised money and sent in 3.4 million PPE to Wuhan.
As per the data from CNBC, there are roughly 370,000 Chinese students studying at various universities in America.
The issue currently has become a controversy as the US is experiencing a sudden spike in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and there seems to be a shortage. Many health workers over the week have a complaint about a lack of masks and gloves.
A report in NPR observed that there were a "dire shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) including hospital gowns, face shields, and especially respiratory N95 face masks" in the US.
The shortage of PPE is so bad that one New Jersey doctor described it to CNN as "sending medical professionals like lambs to the slaughterhouse."
What is even worse is the fact that back in January when the World Health Organization raised alarm on the need for PPE in China, the Trump administration sent in nearly 17.8 tons (more than 35,000 pounds) of "masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials" to China.
Coronavirus in the US
The novel coronavirus strain that causes COVID 19 first surfaced in central China sometime in late November-December in 2019. The deadly virus since then has become a global pandemic that has infected over 770,000 people worldwide. The situation is so dire that the US, Italy, and Spain now have more coronavirus cases compared to mainland China.
In the US, which already has the highest number of reported infections in the world, researchers claim that even if social distancing guidelines were to be followed "perfectly" the death toll in the nation could reach 100,000 to 200,000.
The United States currently has over 160,000 cases and the coronavirus deaths have crossed over 3,000 to overtake the official figures of China - where the government claims 3,305 died of COVID 19, the Chinese figures though are under scrutiny.
