The Embassy of Israel in Nigeria on Thursday donated 2,000 protective face masks to support Nigerian medical personnel in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria, Mr Shimon Ben-Shoshan, while delivering the face masks to the Minister of Health, Mr Osagie Ehanire, said the items were designed in Israel and manufactured in Nigeria.

Ben-Shoshan, also Permanent Representative of Israel to ECOWAS, said the items were put together by the Embassy of the State of Israel in collaboration with Skill-G, an Israeli company.

Ben-Shoshan said, “This is something that we have been doing, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19, which is using medical innovations of Israel in Nigeria.

“What we see today is another fantastic cooperation between Israeli companies with group of companies in Nigeria in production of protective masks.

“The protective masks which were designed in Israel and manufactured in Nigeria were printed with 3-D Printers in Nigeria.

“What we have here is contribution of Israel to Nigeria; our goal is to donate 10, 000 protective face masks for medical staff in the frontline of fighting COVID-19.

“Today, we are donating the first phase of 2,000 face masks, we wish to continue and to bring the rest as soon as possible, and unfortunately the production process takes time.”

He observed that COVID-19 cases recorded in Nigeria was less than what obtained in Israel, where 16, 500 cases and 237 deaths have been recorded.

He described the disease as something no one expected, adding that COVID-19 is not about Israel or Nigeria but the world at large.

Receiving the items, Ehanire expressed appreciation to the Ambassador and his team for the donation.

According to him, the donation is a sign of consideration and concern.

“It is something that is very handy and we will be very happy to use the face shields in all our activities, because there are many situations we need this protective face masks.

“We shall start deploying the protective face masks immediately to places we have need for them; our country is large and unfortunately the pandemic has spread to almost everywhere.”

(NAN)