The NBA, the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets are collaborating with China’s consul general Huang Ping to donate one million surgical masks to the New York City area, governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday.
Cuomo announced the news on Twitter, saying, “New York thanks you. We are beyond grateful for this gift of critically needed (personal protective equipment).”
The masks will go to the city’s essential workers battling the coronavirus pandemic.
Nets owner Joe Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, have also donated 1,000 ventilators, which are expected to be delivered Saturday from China. Cuomo said Thursday the city was less than a week away from running out of ventilators.
Tsai is the co-founder and executive vice chairman of the Alibaba Group, which previously donated a million masks and half a million tests to New York.
According to ESPN, the NBA, WNBA and their players have combined to donate $50 million toward coronavirus-related relief efforts.
New York reported a record one-day increase (10,841) in confirmed cases of COVID-19 from Friday to Saturday. Friday was also the deadliest day (630 deaths) in the state to this point.
