Close to three months after the launch of the Crypto Against COVID campaign, Binance Charity is reporting how your donations help to support health workers and fight the pandemic. So far, we have delivered about 1 million personal protective equipment (PPE) to countries around the world, with more supplies and areas to come.
This is the current reach of the Crypto Against COVID campaign. (We factored in our previous anti-COVID campaigns in China as well.) We anticipate serving more countries around the world in the coming days.
Here are some stories from four of the countries that have received support from Binance Charity.
Italy
One of the European countries hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy declared a state of emergency and imposed quarantines as early as February. The country recorded 237,290 confirmed cases, including 34,371 deaths as of June 16, according to the World Health Organization.
“In the beginning, the virus just affected smaller villages, and then suddenly, the whole country was affected by the lockdown measures. The cases were starting to climb and it went from just cities being unlocked down to the whole country, in just one week,” according to Lucia Quaglia, a Binancian from Italy who’s part of our international marketing team.
In mid-April, less than a month after the launch of our Crypto Against COVID campaign, Binance Charity shipped 400,000 surgical masks to Italy. The cargo plane carrying the masks arrived at Milan Airport. We then proceeded to distribute these masks to hospitals in the country.
The donations, which also included 10,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) suits, are a huge boon to the country’s 400,000 medical personnel.
US
With 2,079,592 people who tested positive with COVID-19, the US accounts for around one-third of the world’s coronavirus case count. One of the hardest-hit places in the US is New York City, due, in part, to its sheer population density.
In May, Binance Charity created the PPE Token stablecoin, which has been used to track the delivery of masks and other equipment to hospitals in the city. We supplied 11 hospitals with a total of 200,000 masks, and we have made the process transparent for all stakeholders involved, from the donors to the delivery handlers to the hospitals receiving the donations. Here’s a video of one such delivery to Maimonides Medical Center, which received 18,000 masks.
“Our mission is to show that blockchain technology can improve the way we give by promoting transparency within philanthropic organizations,” Jarred Winn, Binance’s SVP of Charity said about the donation drive in the US.
For more details about the whole process of how transparent charity can be on the blockchain, read this article.
South Africa
COVID-19 is a global pandemic, so we should fight it wherever it appears worldwide. South Africa is the worst-hit country in Africa when it comes to the pandemic, with 73,533 cases and 1,568 deaths.
In mid-May, Binance Charity sent 15,000 protective suits for donation to the Health Department in the Western Cape and other hospitals in South Africa. We also ordered the delivery of 20,000 masks within the next few weeks to the country.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation for the assistance given to South Africa as we fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The notes of encouragement on the sides of the boxes delivered (‘South Africa stay strong! Together we will overcome these hard times!’), was a pleasant surprise and most welcome,” Simon Kaye from the Western Cape Department of Health said in a letter to Binance Charity.
Turkey
Another country that’s been greatly affected by COVID-19 is Turkey, with 179,831 confirmed cases, including 4,825 dead. Turkey is also one of the first countries where Binance Charity has sent aid.
In early April, Binance Charity delivered 40,000 N95 masks and 10,000 protective suits to the Turkish Ministry of Health. Through social media, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) encouraged our Turkish Binancians to stay strong amid the pandemic.
And with your continued support, we will be able to fight the pandemic together.
