President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador shows his gratitude for the fellow leader as the aid package arrived this week. On behalf of the country, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard expressed his thanks to the nation for holding out a helping hand.


Response to a Request from the United States

On his Twitter account, Ebrard thought to thank more people who contributed to this achievement. In particular, he thanked U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Chris Landau, Bob Hamilton, and Jorge Torres of FedEx.

A report by El Pais showed that Mexico had access to only 147 ventilators in the previous month. At the time, President Lopez Obrador told the public that Trump would respond to his request for sending ventilators to assist with the shortages of medical supplies and equipment in Mexico. This week, the shipment of 211 ventilators finally arrived.

Apart from that, the Mexican government also received an aid package from Hamilton Medical equipment, the costs of which $16,000 at least, and $24,000 at most.

"We want to thank the government of the United States very fully," he said in an interview with the Associated Press earlier this week. Referring to Trump, he added, "During hard times, you know who your friends are."

And the times certainly proved to be difficult. As of Wednesday, there are a total of 26,025 confirmed cases of patients with COVID-19 in Mexico, and only 19,317 of these have an outcome. So far, there are 2,507 reported deaths and 16,810 who have recovered, according to data by Worldometers.

Federal authorities suspect that the lack of mass testing initiatives suggests that the true figure must likely be higher.


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Mexico Asks for Supplies from the U.S. and China

Last month, Lopez Obrador announced in a news conference that he asked for a deal with Trump to secure Mexico's medical supplies and equipment for them. Specifically, he asked the U.S. for the distribution of 10,000 ventilators and monitors for COVID-19 patients.

He told the press that he expressed his concern to Trump about the current healthcare crisis the country was going through, especially insufficient supplies and equipment. Lopez Obrador also raised to Trump the United States' wealthier and more capable healthcare systems.

"They have more plants, more technological development, and they have more economic resources," Lopez Obrador said. At the time, he announced Trump promised consultation with his administration to respond to this request by the end of the week.

The United States owned large companies and factories that produced and manufactured medical supplies and equipment in Mexico, and so the costs were easily negotiated with.

Apart from the U.S., Lopez Obrador was also seeking the delivery of more supplies and equipment from China. He wanted to thank Chinese President Xi Jinping for the early arrival of the first batch of supplies in the country. As of yet, they are still issuing more orders for personal protective equipment and other medical necessities to avoid shortages.