Specially flown down testing kits were donated by Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundations
Alibaba Group, the parent company of Daraz Sri Lanka, has been one of the groups at the forefront in the worldwide fight against COVID-19 through continuous supplies of medical support to Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Following the donation of 100,000 masks two weeks ago, the Alibaba and Jack Ma Foundations donated 20,064 COVID-19 test kits to the Ministry of Health yesterday. The donation was handed over by the Managing Director of Daraz Sri Lanka, Rakhil Fernando on behalf of the donor foundations to the Hon. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha.
The test kits that were flown down to Sri Lanka from Shanghai on a special flight, will help the government in identifying potential COVID-19 patients more efficiently, thereby allowing the frontline medical teams to provide immediate care to reduce the spread and help in flattening the curve. The kits are produced by DAAN Gene Co. a globally renowned listed company focused on R&D and manufacturing of in-vitro diagnostic products. The estimated total donations and healthcare support value from the Daraz’s parent company to Sri Lanka has been Rs. 50 million thus far.
Mr. Fernando also discussed the current situation of the country with Hon. Prime Minister and emphasized on Daraz’s capacity to serve around 15,000 households daily through their extended seller base and large logistical network. The learnings from the parent company, Alibaba during its operations at the time of the SARS epidemic in 2003 will help Daraz operate efficiently. “Daraz is willing to continue the support to the government of Sri Lanka at these trying times by providing essential services to a large number of households island wide,” commented Mr. Fernando.
In addition, Daraz Sri Lanka facilitated a video conference call between Chinese officials and medical officers who have been at the center of fighting COVID-19 in China and the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka. The call organized by the Alibaba Foundation enabled the team from China to share their experiences in battling COVID-19 from the epicenter and the best practices in mitigating the spread of the virus.