Israel received three enormous shipments of anti-coronavirus supplies Saturday morning from Italy, India and China.
The supplies were sent following phone calls made to heads of state by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has cultivated an especially warm personal relationship with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As a result of the talks, “three shipments landed with – inter alia – 2.4 million chloroquine pills,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Saturday night.
The shipments, which were brought by the procurement command center led by Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, include 2.5 tons of anesthetics from Italy, 2.4 million pills of chloroquine — an experimental anti-coronavirus drug — and millions of components of protective equipment, including masks and overalls, from China.
A shipment also left India several days ago with tons of raw materials for producing chloroquine, the PMO said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu thanks Indian Prime Minister Modi for specially approving the shipment.”
The cooperation at the procurement command center, which was established at the behest of Prime Minister Netanyahu, has led to the massive acquisition of vital medical equipment for the struggle against the coronavirus in Israel.
Professionals at the command center are in close and continuous contact with hospitals and HMOs in order to fill supply gaps with equipment from abroad and locally manufactured items that were previously unavailable.