page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
section_title: Foreign aid
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines / Government response / Foreign aid
caption_attribution_description: English: Thousands of aid packages donated by the People's Republic of China are unloaded at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on March 21, 2020. The donation includes assorted medical supplies, personal protective equipment, and testing kits for coronavirus. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
context_page_description: The COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case in the Philippines was identified on January 30, 2020 and involved a 38-year-old Chinese woman who was confined at San Lazaro Hospital in Metro Manila. On February 1, a posthumous test result from a 44-year-old Chinese man turned out positive for the virus, making the Philippines the first country outside China to record a confirmed death from the disease.
  After over a month without recording any cases, the Philippines confirmed its first local transmission on March 7. Since then, the virus spread to the country with at least one case being recorded in the country's 17 regions. Socio-economic status has been associated with the prevalence of COVID-19 cases across the country. Lockdowns, commonly known as community quarantines, have been imposed throughout the country since March 15 as a measure to limit the spread of the virus. The largest of these measures was the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
  As of August 30, there have been 217,396 confirmed cases of the disease in the country.
context_section_description: The government of China and the United States has pledged support to the Philippine government response against COVID-19. China announced that it would be donating medical supplies including 100,000 testing kits, 100,000 surgical masks, 10,000 N95 masks, and 10,000 sets of personal protective equipment. The United States Agency for International Development also pledged $2.7 million worth of aid to help the Philippines develop adequate testing capabilities, and ensure the availability of medical supplies through the agency's "on-the-ground partners". China's aid was received on March 21, 2020.
  On March 22, the DFA said that the Philippines would be receiving a donation from Singapore consisting of 3,000 testing kits and a polymerase chain reaction machine. In early April 2020, the DFA announced it received 20 units of testing kits, capable of 1,000 tests, from Brunei. The United Arab Emirates also donated medical supplies in May 2020.
  On March 28, it was disclosed that some of the test kits made in China were only 40% accurate in testing for signs of the COVID-19 on an individual suspected to be infected with the disease. The test kits were donated by a private foundation.
caption: Medical supply aid from China being received by military personnel at the Villamor Air Base, March 21
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