Shipment of 800,000 masks from China arrives at Schiphol

A shipment of 800 thousand masks arrived at Schiphol from China on Monday morning, Minister Martin van Rijn for Medical Care confirmed on Goedemorgen Nederland. The shipment also included 30 thousand pairs of protective glasses, and 30 thousand insulating coats, the Minister said on Twitter.

According to broadcaster NOS, the masks involved are professional FFP2 masks, which were quality checked and approved by the Netherlands in Shanghai. An agreement on this was made with the Chinese government, the broadcaster writes.

Shipments of protective gear are expected to arrive at Schiphol from China every day in the coming weeks. In total, some 6 million masks will be delivered in the coming days.

"Great news that there is now an air bridge for protective equipment with China," Van Rijn said on Twitter. He hopes that these shipments will help solve the shortage of protective gear in healthcare, but he expects that the demand will remain high for a while yet. According to the Minister, the Netherlands must learn from this crisis and come up with a solution to prevent similar shortages in the future.

For these daily flights to and from China, KLM is temporarily making use fo the Boeing 747 again, according to NU.nl.

Geweldig nieuws dat er nu een luchtbrug voor beschermingsmiddelen is met China. Vannacht op Schiphol de eerste vlucht hiervan verwelkomd met oa honderdduizenden maskers, 30000 jassen en 30000 veiligheidsbrillen. Komende dagen volgt meer, waaronder miljoenen maskers.#AlleenSamen pic.twitter.com/y7aOiC7xtn

— Martin van Rijn (@mjrijn) April 20, 2020