Crucial supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff have been delivered into a Royal Air Force base for distribution around the country.
Following an agreement between the UK and Turkey, 250,000 items of PPE equipment to the UK, including 50,000 N-95 face masks; 100,000 surgical masks; and 100,000 protective suits, arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday.
The supplies will be taken to a regional NHS distribution hub to be delivered to medical centres across the country.
RAF bases have been a vital resource during the coronavirus pandemic, with military and chartered civilian flights utilising them to deliver resources and repatriate Britons stranded across the globe.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:
“The delivery of this vital equipment will bring protection and relief to thousands of critical workers across the UK, as they bravely and tirelessly work to keep us safe.
It is also a tribute to the strong bilateral ties with our ally Turkey, and I am immensely grateful for their kind gesture.”
“As NATO Allies we can always depend on each other, whatever the threats we face.”
Defence Secretary
Ben Wallace
This is just one way the UK’s Armed Forces are helping, in addition to helping to establish temporary hospitals, delivering supplies and assisting with a variety of tasks to support the NHS and other public bodies.
The delivery by Turkey comes after 37 tonnes of UK aid was supplied by an RAF C-17 last month to those affected by the crisis on its border with Syria. The UK has also received 60 ventilator units from the German army, as it continues to strengthen its resources to fight coronavirus.
