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Vietnam to Give the U.S. 200,000 Locally Made Medical Masks

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel wearing protective gloves handles a pile of face masks on the protective mask production line at CRPF Northern Sector staff camp in New Delhi, India, on Friday, April 10, 2020. Front line health workers are gripped with anxiety as they operate with some of the world’s worst medical infrastructure in the face of the pandemic. India’s low testing rates over the last two months have added to the uncertainty. India had tested 144,910 samples as of April 9, according to data from the Indian Council for Medical Research. Photographer: T, Narayan/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen, Bloomberg News

Apr 16, 2020

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam is donating 200,000 domestically made medical masks to the U.S., which has seen deaths from the novel coronavirus top 30,000.

The masks are worth at least $100,000, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an email statement. The gift to the U.S., Vietnam’s largest single export market, follows similar mask donations to other countries, including Russia, France, Italy and Cambodia. Vietnam delivered 450,000 medical protective suits made by DuPont Inc.’s Haiphong facility to Dallas, Texas earlier this month.

The mask give-aways come as Vietnam’s garment industry shifts from making shirts and skirts to medical protective gear as the virus’ spread has led to slowing orders from the U.S. and Europe.