TEHRAN (Iran News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday sent its first planeload of assistance to Iran to help fight coronavirus, dispatching six medics with tons of medical equipment and test kits aboard a UAE military aircraft.

“Today’s flight will carry 7.5 tons of medical equipment and supplies, primarily the critical items needed for infection prevention and control to support health care workers in Iran,” said Robert Blanchard from the WHO in Dubai.

As the supplies worth more than $300,000 – including gloves, surgical masks, and respirators – were loaded onto the United Arab Emirates military transport plane in Dubai, Blanchard warned that global supplies were running low.

“What we see now is that demand has greatly exceeded our available stocks… and we are struggling to get access to more supplies.”

The six-member medical team is made up of doctors, epidemiologists and laboratory specialists who will help the Islamic Republic detect and control the virus, Blanchard said, adding it has been the first WHO team to be sent to Iran since the crisis began.

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in Geneva that the team will review measures to deal with the outbreak and provide technical guidance.

WHO operations manager Nevien Attalla said some 15,000 health workers in Iran would benefit from the supplies which were the “first big shipment which supports the response to coronavirus.”

The UAE provided the military transport plane for the flight to Tehran. The plane landed in the Iranian capital’s Imam Khomeini Airport later in the day.

So far, 129 cases have been confirmed across the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar, many of them pilgrims returning from Iran.

“Aid should reach all people,” Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, the UAE’s undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, said at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport.

European offer

The British Foreign Office said on Monday Britain, Germany, and France have offered a five-million-euro (5.6-million-dollar) package to Iran to help fight coronavirus in the country.

The trio would provide support through WHO or other UN agencies, it said in a statement.