Rail freight jumps in to send relief materials for Coronavirus outbreak
Two logistics companies have decided to offer rail freight services for free to the Chinese city of Wuhan. This is meant for the transport of relief materials, needed to combat the large outbreak of the Coronavirus. The transport is offered from Warsaw in Poland.
Nunner Logistics, based in the Netherlands and the China-based TIEDADA Logistics have decided to sponsor all overseas Chinese and European parties that want to donate relief materials, the logistics firms announced this weekend. “For all relief goods delivered to our Warsaw NUNNER-Tiedada hub, we provide free railway transportation of rescue materials”, Nunner’s director Erwin Cootjans posted on Linkedin.
Relief material
According to CNN, Chinese authorities have acknowledged that Wuhan and much of Hubei province are facing manpower and medical supply shortages in compatting the lung disease. Beijing will deploy another 1,600 medical professionals to Wuhan to help the city cope with the growing number of coronavirus patients.
Health officials stated to be looking for more protective clothing, protective goggles and masks.
Wang Jiangping, the vice minister of of industry and information technology, said Hubei needs about 100,000 protective medical suits per day, as there is a serious risk of infection for medical personnel in treating patients. This could be masks (63079000), protective clothing (62101030) or protective glasses (9001509900).
Ground zero
Wuhan is ground zero of a worrying outbreak of the Coronavirus, which has until now affected 2700 people in China and killed 80. The virus has spread outside the country too, and appeared in Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Zuid-Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Maleisië, Nepal, de Verenigde Staten, Canada, Australië en Frankrijk. The WHO on Friday said that the outbreak is not yet a global emergency, but a worrying situation.
Wuhan and four other cities in the province have been locked and all train services for passengers have been cancelled. Although it is unclear at this point whether freight traffic will resume after the Chinese New Year celebration, the service offered by Nunner and Tiedada runs via Xi’an to Wuhan. Those interested should contact the parties by mailing charity@nunner-logistics.com.
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When Hubei needs about 100,000 protective medical suits per day, there must be much more than 2,500 sick in the region. Otherwise they need 40 different people to care for each infected person. If my math is correct the logic isn’t.