Portuguese officials welcome German army medical experts at Figo Maduro military airbase in Lisbon, Portugal, on Feb. 3, 2021. Based on a bilateral agreement, a team of German army medical experts arrived in Portugal on Wednesday to assist the country in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)
LISBON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Based on a bilateral agreement, a team of German army medical experts arrived in Portugal on Wednesday to assist the country in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 26 health professionals -- eight doctors and 18 nurses -- disembarked at Lisbon's Figo Maduro military airbase, bringing 50 oxygen ventilators, 150 infusion pumps and dozens of hospital beds.
Without giving any statements, the German team went directly to Hospital da Luz, where they will work for three weeks, with replacement scheduled every 21 days, at a unit that "had not yet opened due to lack of human resources," said a joint statement from Portugal's Ministries of Health and Defense.
Austria and Spain have also announced their readiness to help Portugal in its fight against COVID-19.
Portugal recorded more than 240 deaths and 9,083 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The country's cumulative total is 740,944 infections and 13,257 deaths.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines, including Portugal, which has already immunized 400,000 people.
Meanwhile, 237 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 29. Enditem
