China Eastern Air Holding (CEA Holding) donated 2 million pairs of medical gloves to the Shanghai government on Monday to help the prevention campaign against the novel coronavirus.

The 4,000 boxes of latex gloves, transported from New York, will soon be sent to medical staff battling the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

Protective gear such as gloves, facial masks and hazmat suits have been in short supply since the outbreak. The latex gloves can not only be used by doctors and nurses, but also as essential protection for service staff such as flight attendants and airport workers.

CEA Holding, China Eastern's controlling shareholder, donated its first batch of 600,000 pairs of medical gloves to the city government on February 4. The gloves were among a million pairs donated by an overseas Chinese businessman to the group for staff with China Eastern Airlines.

The Shanghai-based group delivered some of these gloves to its staff serving passengers during the Spring Festival travel rush, and then donated the rest to the city government and Xiaogan City, in central Hubei Province, the heart of the current COVID-19 outbreak.

The group purchased another batch of 2 million pairs of gloves from the businessman, a platinum member of China Eastern, and presented them to the Shanghai government.

The gloves arrived at the Pudong airport over the weekend. Shanghai Customs opened fast clearance channels for the shipments.

China Eastern has also sent 900 doctors and nurses from Shanghai to Hubei on seven charter flights. Nationwide, the carrier has transported over 7,000 medical workers across the country to Hubei. It has also carried 339 Hubei travelers back home from Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia.

Its cargo and passenger flights have transported 2,223 tons of masks, goggles and protective suits from France, the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan and Myanmar.