Airlift of medical equipment from China headed for Israel

BEIJING (Agencies): Eleven airplanes containing millions of pieces of medical equipment, including ventilators, face masks and protective suits, will arrive in Israel from China in the coming days, with the first having just taken off, the Defense Ministry says.

The ministry says it co-ordinated the effort alongside the Foreign Ministry, El Al and Israel Chemicals.

The first plane, which is due to arrive tomorrow morning, contained 900,000 surgical masks, half a million protective suits and other medical gear. Additional protective equipment will be coming in the coming days, alongside several ventilators.

Two El Al planes will fly to Israel from China each day through the rest of the week, the ministry says.

Meanwhile, an Israeli doctor who recovered from COVID-19 is donating blood plasma in the hopes that it contains antibodies that can help those infected overcome the coronavirus.

“I’m donating plasma for future use in treating coronavirus,” Dr. Ofer Rak, an orthopedic surgeon, tells Channel 12 news from the Magen David Adom blood bank, where MDA’s Prof. Eilat Shinar is supervising the process.

Rak contracted the virus during a ski trip in Italy and was treated at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he works.

Channel 12 notes that a major Israeli hospital is already using plasma from patients who have recovered from the virus in treating patients, and that numerous hospitals worldwide are doing so. It says four major drug companies are working to manufacture the treatment.