Nations rally to assist Italy: Germany, Russia, China and Cuba dispatch medics and supplies to coronavirus-stricken Rome… but Moscow's aid is said 'useless'Putin sent 600 ventilators and 100 medics to Italy over the weekend
Over last 48 hours critically ill patients landed in Dresden, Leipzig and Frankfurt
China has sent experts and equipment, and last week 52 Cuban doctors arrived
Italy announced 712 deaths yesterday, taking its total to eight ,215, most within the world
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Germany, Russia, China and Cuba have rallied around Italy, sending medics and supplies to the country with the foremost recorded coronavirus deaths within the world.
Vladimir Putin has dispatched 600 ventilators and 100 military virologists and epidemiologists following phone calls with the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last Saturday.
At least 16 Italians requiring urgent medical aid were flown to the German airports of Dresden, Leipzig and Frankfurt within the last 48 hours, as Rome declared it had quite 80,500 cases of COVID-19 and eight ,215 deaths. Another 6,203 had become infected on Thursday, with 712 deaths, from 683 on Wednesday.
China earlier this month sent its experts and medical equipment, while the Cubans sent a 52-strong force of doctors last week. But while the Italian government has publicly welcomed the medical care , sources in Rome have warned that Russia's efforts are an insidious soft squeeze play .
Yesterday two patients from Italy's battered city of Bergamo, Lombardy, were flown in an Italian Hercules warplane to an airport in Dresden (pictured) to receive medical treatment from German exper
Russian specialists preparing for a departure to Italy at the Chkalovsky military airport outside Moscow
Eighty percent of Russian supplies are totally useless or of little use to Italy. In short, this is often little quite a pretext,' an unnamed government source told La Stampa.
He said the Russians were attempting to realize geopolitical leverage during a care package dubbed 'From Russia amorously ,' while Conte wanted to bolster relations with Moscow.
Russia's Ambassador to Italy Sergei Razov rebuked La Stampa's report as 'the product of a perverse mind.' He said Russia's aims were purely selfless.
Russia's team led by Major-General Sergey Kikot, chief of the nuclear, biological and chemical protection unit, have vast experience in disaster management and have helped Africans fight Ebola.
They arrived in Rome on Sunday, consistent with the days , before heading during a convoy of army trucks to Bergamo, the ravaged epicentre of the virus in Italy.
They will observe the harrowing medical care units in Bergamo for every week before helping to man a replacement temporary hospital. Others are to disinfect old people's homes.
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