MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) — China has promised to keep sending assistance to countries in West Africa fighting the Ebola virus outbreak and has trained 480 medical staff from the Chinese army to work on the disease in Liberia, the Director of Chinese Foreign Ministry's African Affairs Department said Friday.
"China's assistance will not stop as long as the Ebola epidemic [continues] in West Africa," Lin Songtian stated as quoted by Xinhua.
China has prepared 480 medical staff from an elite unit of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to be sent to Liberia in three waves of 160 people. A 100-bed treatment center is also planned to be set up in Liberia in the next 30 days, Lin said.
According to the head of the foreign ministry's department, the Chinese government will also donate $6 million to the UN Ebola Response Trust Fund and will cooperate with international organizations, aimed to assist the African countries affected, Lin said.
"We hope that the parties concerned shall enhance communications and coordination, support the leading and coordinating role of the UN and the WHO to make the assistance more effective and targeted with greater synergy so that we can win the final victory in the joint fight against Ebola," Lin maintained as cited by Xinhua.
On Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO) said the rate of new infections in Liberia was slowing, but added that the number of confirmed Ebola cases now stood at 13,703 across West Africa. Liberia accounts for almost half of the 4,920 people killed by the disease, according to the organization.
