Covid-19: TikTok donates Rs 100 cr in safety gear to Indian medical staff

Will give away 400,000 hazmat medical protective suits and 2,00,000 masks

Chinese short-video app TikTok said Wednesday it is donating 400,000 hazmat medical protective suits and 2,00,000 masks worth Rs 100 crore to protect doctors and front line medical staff in India.

"The Government of India has been making concerted efforts to contain the spread of the virus and through this donation we want to contribute towards this effort. With support from the Union Ministry of Textile, this essential gear, which meets the prescribed standards and guidelines, is being handed over to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Additionally, our contribution also covers local/state level medical workers, as we have donated 200,000 masks, to Delhi and Maharashtra Government," TikTok said in a statement.

TikTok, owned by the world's most valuable startup Bytedance, has over 20 million users in India. Last week, the company announced it was not going to play high definition and ultra high definition videos on its platform in order to ease network data traffic pressures in the country.

It has also tied up with the World Heath Organization (WHO), which posts informative videos and has hosted two livestreams on March 17 and 19 that featured information about COVID-19. It was watched across 70 markets by almost 350,000 users. On Twitter a search for Covid19 or coronavirus (and other related terms) leads one to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) or the WHO.

Similarly, other technology firms are making an effort to help the Indian government tackle the situation with the ongoing pandemic, which has led to the Indian government announcing a 21-day lockdown in the country.