Red Cross collects over 125,000 medical masks for healthcare workers

After calling on Netherlands residents to donate protective gear for healthcare workers on Friday, the Red Cross collected over 125 thousand masks, 36 thousand pairs of protective glasses and 500 liters of disinfectant over the weekend. The items will be made available to care institutions that need them most, the aid organization said to the Telegraaf.

"It is fantastic to see that people have responded to our request. The mailbox was filling up after the first call for medical devices which are now in short supply. After that, we immediately called to ask whether it really concerns the necessary items and, after a careful check, to agree on how to collect them."

The Red Cross said it received both large and small batches of protective gear, and was even offered respirators. Many masks came from handymen, who still had a lost box of suitable mouth masks left over after their last jobs.

The government is also sourcing masks from abroad. A delivery of 690 thousand masks arrived at Schiphol on Saturday - the first tranche of millions ordered by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport from organizations in China.