Singaporean billionaire Ong donates 15 ventilators to Maldives

Singaporean billionaire Ong Beng Seng, who owns the hotel and resort chain Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) which runs several tourist properties in Maldives, has donated 15 ventilators to the country.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Ong, in addition to donating 15 ventilators, has also donated 100,000. The donations are now at the Maldivian High Commission in Singapore.

While the Maldives works to increase the capacity of its health system to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, several foreign parties have made generous donations to the country.

Another Singaporean company has donated 5,000 test kits, said the Foreign Ministry.

The test kits, too, are at the Maldivian High Commission in Singapore, and work is underway to transport the equipment to Maldives.

According to National Emergency Operations Center, Maldives currently has 97 ventilators. It is seeking to procure 135 more ventilators and 14 transportable ventilators as it battles a surge in virus cases in the capital. NEOC has stated that the government has now procured 6 transportable ventilators.

The government is also developing a 300-bed medical facility in Hulhumale’ to treat virus patients.