Pope Francis donates ventilators and ultrasounds to Brazil affected by the coronavirus

Pope Francis has donated ventilators and ultrasound scanners to hospitals in coronavirus-ravaged Brazil.

In an August 17 press release, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, a papal almsgiver, said 18 Dräger intensive care ventilators and six Fuji portable ultrasound scanners would be shipped to Brazil on behalf of the pope.

Brazil reported 3,3 million cases of COVID-19 and 107.852 deaths as of Aug.17, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The country has the second officially registered death toll in the world after that of the United States.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on July 7 that he tested positive for the coronavirus and was forced to spend weeks in solitary confinement as he recovered from the virus.

Krajewski said the donation was made possible by an Italian non-profit organization called Hope, which sent "the best possible high-tech, life-saving medical equipment through various donors" to hospitals on the coronavirus frontline.

The Polish cardinal explained that when the devices arrived in Brazil, they would be delivered to the hospitals selected by the local apostolic nunciature, so that "this gesture of Christian solidarity and charity can really help the poorest and most needy people".

In June, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the Brazilian economy would contract 9,1% in 2020 due to the pandemic, plunging more than Brazil's 209,5 million people into poverty.

The Office of Papal Charities, which Krajewski oversees, has made several previous donations to hospitals struggling during the pandemic. In March, Francis entrusted the Office with 30 ventilators for distribution to 30 hospitals. The ventilators were delivered to hospitals in Romania, Spain and Italy on April 23, the feast of St. George, the patron saint of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. In June, the Office sent 35 ventilators to countries in need.

Vatican News reported on July 14 that Pope Francis has donated four ventilators to Brazil to treat those who contracted the virus.

Furthermore, the Vatican Congregation for the Eastern Churches announced in April that it would donate 10 ventilators to Syria and three to St Joseph's Hospital in Jerusalem, as well as diagnostic kits in Gaza and funds to the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem.

Krajewski said: “The Holy Father, Pope Francis, incessantly addresses his heartfelt appeal for generosity and solidarity with those populations and countries that suffer most from the epidemiological emergency of COVID-19”.

"In this sense, the Office of Pontifical Charity, to make tangible the closeness and affection of the Holy Father in this moment of hard trial and difficulty, has mobilized in various ways and on several fronts to seek medical supplies and electro-medical equipment donating to health systems that are in situations of crisis and poverty, helping them to find the means necessary to save and heal many human lives ”.