The first Aer Lingus flight to China to collect personal protective equipment for the Irish health service arrived in Beijing shortly before 8.30pm on Saturday, having left Dublin Airport earlier in the morning. Over €225 million had been spent on PPE - compared with €15 million in a normal year, he said. It comes as stocks of personal protective equipment for healthcare staff tackling the Covid-19 outbreak are “beginning to run low”, according to the Health Service Executive. Since February 1st, about €30 million had been invested in PPE stock, “which are now beginning to run low”. Over €60 million has been spent so far this year on protective equipment in the fight against Covid-19, compared to a traditional yearly allocation of €15 million.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2020 20:35 UTC