‘Equipment on its way’: US to send 200 ventilators to Russia after Moscow dispatches a planeload of aid to New York

The US has sent 200 ventilators to Russia, where the number of new coronavirus cases continues to ebb. The assistance comes more than a month after Moscow sent medical supplies to America in a similar move.

The California-manufactured equipment was donated on orders from President Donald Trump, who was responding to the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a US administration official told TASS. The life-saving equipment is being delivered free of charge, the official added.

Although Russia has recently seen a decrease in the number of daily infections - that have dropped below 10,000 for two days in a row, down from around 11,000 a week ago – the official argued that the Covid-19 outbreak is “worsening” there.

State Secretary Mike Pompeo appeared to have confirmed the delivery on Sunday. The “equipment is on its way,” he told the Washington Examiner. The shipment will include “some testing equipment, as well as ventilators,” the US top diplomat said, without elaborating as to the quantity of the devices.

Moscow is not the sole beneficiary of the generous move, since Washington has already shipped some 15,000 ventilators to more than 50 countries, said the official who spoke to TASS.

The coronavirus situation in Russia might look quite grim, since the number of confirmed cases there has risen to more than 290,000, putting it in first place in Europe as far as the sheer number of people affected. However, Russia also has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates on the continent – a fact that some US media and experts seem to be having a hard time to grasp. Bloomberg has recently come under fire for what many considered to be a tone-deaf headline after it rolled out a report asking why the virus “hasn’t killed more Russians” in its title.

The epidemic appears to be slowing down in Russia, including the capital Moscow, which has so far accounted for roughly a half of all cases nationwide. Over the weekend Russia's health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor reported that Covid-19 situation can be considered “stable,” as there has been “almost no increase from day-to-day.”

Trump offered to send spare ventilators Russia in case of need as early as mid-April. Back then, his statement sparked meltdown among his critics and all sorts of Russia-bashers. Moscow, however, welcomed the move, with Putin saying at the time that the country would “certainly” accept the “kind offer” if such a need arises.

The US president made the move after Russia itself sent a planeload of medical supplies and equipment, including facemasks and lung ventilators to the coronavirus-hit New York in early April. The delivery, the cost of which was evenly split between the US and Russia, was also met with howls of protest by the ‘Russiagate’ crowd. 

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