Pope Francis donates COVID-19 ventilators to Mexico

Pope Francis

has donated 27 ventilators to Latin American countries to help them combat the coronavirus pandemic, as informed on Friday by the Holy See in a statement.

The donation took place in recent weeks through the Papal Charities and different diplomatic nunciatures.

Four ventilators were donated to Haiti hospitals, two were donated to the Dominican Republic; two to Bolivia, four to Brazil, three to Colombia, two to Ecuador, three to Honduras, four to Venezuela, and three more to Mexico.

Moreover, Pope Francis has ordered to donate two ventilators to Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Ukraine each.

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Pope Francis has expressed his concern regarding the coronavirus pandemic and also donated this kind of equipment to Italy and Spain in March when both countries were in the most critical stage of the COVID-19 health emergency.

Among other actions, he also auctioned gifts from several athletes to raise funds for the pandemic.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked Pope Francis for sending three ventilators to a hospital in Querñetaro for treating patients infected with COVID-19.

Through his Twitter account, Mexico’s President said that, on behalf of his administration and Mexico’s peoples, he thanked the world leader of the Catholic Church for the donation of the medical equipment.

President López Obrador announced Pope Francis’s donation through his social media accounts after a meeting held at the National Palace with the Apostolic nuncio Franco Coppola and the president of the Mexican Episcopal Conference, archbishop Rogelio Ramìrez.

“I received nuncio Franco Coppola, archbishop Rogelio Cabrera, David Noel Ramìrez – rector emeritus of the Tec de Monterrey – and Alfonso Ramos – chief of the Presidency Office. They told me Pope Francis sent three ventilators to a hospital in Querétaro for treating patients with COVID-19. I thanked the donation on behalf of the government and the people,” he said.

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