MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Taiwan is donating 100,000 surgical masks to Kansas to help medical and meat packing workers amid the coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, announced Wednesday that the shipment of masks is expected to arrive next week.
The move comes as Taiwan seeks to be included in the upcoming World Health Assembly. Moran, who requested the masks, has been supportive of including Taiwan. He thanked the country’s President Tsai Ing-wen in a statement, saying it is “another great reminder that we are all in this together.”
Statewide, confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas rose Wednesday by 276, up to 5,734 total, though the actual number is thought to be higher because of limited testing and because people can be infected without showing symptoms. Reported COVID-19-related deaths increased by seven to 144.
Four counties with meat packing plants — Seward, Ford, Finney and Lyon — have a combined 2,258 confirmed cases, 41% of the state’s total. And an outbreak at the state’s largest prison in Lansing has now infected 551 inmates and 88 staff members. Most of the infected inmates don’t have symptoms.