Chinese university gifts face masks to KU

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The staff at the University of Karachi (KU), which at present is closed for any academic purpose, will start getting face-masks, having been gifted by a Chinese university from April 7.

An official of the KU informed PNFS on April 6 that teaching and non-teaching staff may start getting the face-masks from the university’s health clinic on April 7. 

As many as 7,000 surgical face-masks, including about 50 N95 facemasks, have been arranged by KU’s Confucius Institute (CI) recently, in the wake of Coronavirus epidemic in the country, the official added. 

Earlier at a ceremony during the day, the CI Director, Professor Zhang Xiaoping, handed over the facemasks boxes on behalf of from the Sichuan Normal University of China to Senior Medical Officer of KU Clinic, Prof Dr Syed Abid Hasan in the presence of KU Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, and senior faculty members. 

Professor Xiaoping shared that Pakistan and China have been good friends for many years. “When the human to human transmission of coronavirus occurred in China we got a lot of support from Pakistanis,” he added, observing that now, like numerous countries across the globe, Pakistan is also faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 and the Chinese government and people are very much concerned and willing to support Pakistanis.

He recalled that the KU VC and the Pakistani Director of CI at KU others recorded video messages and prayed for early recovery of the coronavirus affected people in China. 

“We got a lot of special support and wishes from the people of Pakistan,” he said and added that the SNU, which is the hosting university of the CI, had provided durable face-masks for the teaching and non-teaching staff of KU. 

The KU VC, Dr Khalid Iraqi, said that the university administration was grateful to SNU for its goodwill gesture. 

“While Pak-China friendship has got stronger and deeper with the passage of time, such a difficult time is bringing them further closer to each other,” he mentioned. 

On this occasion, VC also appreciated the role and services of the staff of the KU’s clinic, saying the whole staff is available around the clock to facilitate the teachers and non-teaching staff. 

The KU Registrar Professor, Dr Saleem Shahzad, expressed that Sichuan Normal University has sent the gift to help the KU staff and believed that these masks will help against the disease at this difficult moment. 

The KU Senior Medical Officer, Dr Syed Abid, thanked the SNU for providing surgical and N95 masks. He also informed the gathering that Al Khidmat, a welfare organization, has also provided three doctor’s suits, hand sanitizers, surgical facemasks, and gloves to the KU Clinic recently.