Germany donates Mexico 100,000 COVID-19 tests

A German delegation donated 100,000 high-quality COVID-19 PCR tests and laboratory materials for use in Mexico

A delegation of epidemiologists from Germany arrived in Mexico on Tuesday to share experiences on the coronavirus pandemic and donated 100,000 PCR tests to the country, used to detect COVID-19 patients.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported in a statement that the mission, made up of experts from the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and the Institute of Virology of the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, will be in the country until August 28.

“The mission delivered a donation of 100,000 high-quality COVID-19 PCR tests and laboratory materials for use in Mexico,” the Foreign Ministry revealed.

Also, he explained that German epidemiologists will carry out “an exchange of experiences and knowledge on the detection, care, and response to the COVID-19 pandemic” at the Institute for Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference of the Mexican capital, as well as in-state laboratories of the State of Mexico and Yucatan.

“Our goal is to the search for joint solutions that allow us to face the pandemic for the benefit of our populations through cooperation,” said the director of the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation (Amexcid), Laura Carrillo.

?México recibe apoyo del Gobierno de Alemania para enfrentar la pandemia de #COVID19. https://t.co/uzaVw7jpbn pic.twitter.com/38wiOCFyMO

— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) August 18, 2020

In the welcoming ceremony, the Charge D’affaires of the German Embassy in Mexico, Mirko Shilbach, said that “it is clear that the virus knows no borders and we can only solve the pandemic if we act together in solidarity and on an international scale.”

Germany accumulates 9,236 deaths and 225,404 COVID-19 infections since the arrival of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the country on January 27.

For its part, Mexico, where the first wave of infections has not yet ended, accumulates 57,023 deaths and 525,733 cases of COVID-19, making it the third country in the world with the most deaths, behind the United States and Brazil.

With just over a million tests since the arrival of the virus at the end of February, Mexico is one of the countries that performs the least tests, which has generated suspicions about its official figures and criticism for the management of the pandemic.

Mexico and Argentina announced last week a cooperation agreement with the Carlos Slim Foundation to produce in Latin America the vaccine for the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is still in phase 3 of the clinical trial.