Yale-China Assists Alumni in Donating Over 100,000 Masks

2020 April 23

Yale-China is happy to announce the arrival of another large shipment of PPEs (15 pallets!) that arrived on Friday, April 17, from China, bound for Yale New Haven Hospital—the second large shipment in the week (following the NGO’s group shipment—see below). The latest shipment comprises more than 100,000 N95 face masks and 3,500 face shields—both high-quality PPEs that can be put to use right away by Yale New Haven Hospital’s doctors, nurses and staff.

This large donation of PPEs comes from a very motivated group of China-based Yale alumni who responded to an urgent call in March from Yale SOM to help Yale New Haven Hospital with masks and protective gear. Quite a few Yale Clubs and individual groups of Yale alumni jumped to help—but discovered how complex it is to purchase the right level of PPEs, get them through PRC and US customs and get them received here to the right destination in New Haven. Yale-China was on several calls with this Shanghai-based group, and with other groups, to help get over these hurdles. We are thrilled to see that this big shipment has made it all the way here, and we are told that these masks will go immediately to the doctors and nurses at the hospital, for whom these PPEs are an urgent need this month. Of course, it was only weeks ago in late January that this stream of goodwill and emergency help was flowing in the other direction, with Yale friends mailing PPEs to Changsha and to our Xiangya colleagues and Chia Fellows who were working on the hospital front-lines in Wuhan. In these days of crisis, the Yale-China bridge is proving its worth, carrying practical help, PPEs, clinical advice, and caring friendship in both directions.