COVID tests bought from China arrive in Peru

A charter plane with more than 300,000 COVID-19 rapid tests and other medical supplies from China arrived at Callao on Monday.

The rapid tests along with sanitiser, masks and protective equipment purchased by the Peruvian National Health Institute will be distributed around the country.

The Peruvian government has already distributed 330,000 other rapid tests.

Meanwhile, outside the air base, families stranded in Callao waited for the government to help them get back to Piura.

The lockdown has kept them from working, many fear homelessness and hunger, and are looking to return to their home towns.

Peruvian authorities have offered to transfer those who want to go back, but under strict sanitary protocols as they try to limit the spread of the new coronavirus to other regions in the country.

Housing Ministry Rodolfo Yañez inspected a temporary coronavirus isolation facility in Piura, where those who arrive from other regions will have to comply with a mandatory quarantine.

Yañez also delivered more than 100,000 pieces of personal protective equipment purchased by the Piura regional government for doctors, nurses and other medical staff treating coronavirus cases.

Peru has 16,325 COVID-19 cases and 445 deaths.

Cases of recovery have lifted the spirits among Peruvians, such as the recovery of 97 years old María Morales who left hospital after eight days in the intensive care unit in Trujillo.

She is the oldest person in the country to have recovered from COVID-19.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.