Taiwan is helping! Taiwan donates 200,000 surgical masks to Iowa and Wisconsin to combat the spread of COVID-19
In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan and the United States have formed a partnership, based on cooperation and friendship, against the novel coronavirus. In early May 2020, Taiwan donated 100,000 surgical masks to the state of Iowa and the state of Wisconsin for use by their frontline personnel. Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds and Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers expressed their respective appreciation to Taiwan for its donation of 100,000 surgical masks to each state for their first responders.
The aforesaid masks were delivered to Iowa and Wisconsin on May 11. On the morning of May 12, they were received by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Wisconsin Secretary of Administration Joel Brennan on behalf of the state governments of Iowa and Wisconsin, respectively.
Elected officials at the federal level in Iowa and Wisconsin, including U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa, and U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher and Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, expressed their appreciation for the mask donations through their official Twitter accounts.
On May 5, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Wisconsin's third-largest newspaper, ran a story entitled “Wisconsin to receive 100,000 face masks from Taiwan as coronavirus cases continue to rise.” Director General Eric Huang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago was quoted therein, saying "I deeply appreciate Wisconsinite leaders’ longtime support for Taiwan-US and Taiwan-Wisconsin relations," adding that "Taiwan stands with Wisconsin to combat the COVID-19 pandemic together as friends and as a team."
In April, Taiwan donated 300,000 Taiwan-manufactured surgical masks to the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio to support frontline medical personnel. Taiwan aspires to meaningfully participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) as Taiwan can help with the WHO’s “Health for All” global efforts.
