The Malta Trust Foundation has just received a consignment of 20,000 specialised face masks from China that it will be donating to the Prime Minister, GPs and NGOs to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation — a mix of surgical and KF94 masks, which can filter out 94 per cent of particulate matter and provides protection against droplets — stems from the collaboration between The Malta Trust Foundation and Chinese donors William Zeng, Nicole Yang and Li Hua.

Foundation head Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said: “It is heartwarming to see our friends from China – who have their own ordeals to face – coming forward to give tangible help to our country.”

The Malta Trust Foundation’s international director Sophie Chen was instrumental in securing this donation. She also recently facilitated an online call for Malta’s frontline healthcare professionals with Wang Chen, the leading expert and specialist in China who has been in charge of strategy and implementation against the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Ms Coleiro Preca said that 15,000 masks will be donated to Prime Minister Robert Abela tomorrow.

The remaining 5,000 will be distributed to the Association of General Practitioners for doctors who were seeing patients in their clinics without any protective equipment; as well as other NGOs, such as the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation, and Fondazzjoni Nazareth who were at-risk groups working to help the vulnerable in the community.

Ms Coleiro Preca appealed to everybody out there to abide by the authorities’ instructions on social distancing to ensure healthcare professionals could continue to do their job without being overwhelmed in their fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

“This is a very difficult and challenging time for each and every one but through solidarity, and the public’s cooperation to change their behaviour, we can overcome this critical period together.”