Nepal donates 100,000 masks to China amid coronavirus outbreak

Nepal has donated 100,000 protective masks to China, which is battling against the new strain of coronavirus that has claimed the lives of 722 people in that country alone, Nepali Foreign Affairs Ministry has announced.

The masks were handed over by Nepali Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and Minister for Health and Population, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, to Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi here, as per a statement by the ministry.

"The Government of Nepal has decided to donate 100,000 units of protective masks to the Government of China as a gesture of friendship to the Chinese people and the government and solidarity with China's fight against Novel Coronavirus," the statement read.

The new strain of coronavirus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and has since spread to several countries across the world, including India and Nepal.