Thanks to the unstinting efforts of its diplomats, Italy now has enough protective gear and medical equipment to fight its dramatic Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday.
"The work done by the diplomatic corps around the world has led to contracts for 300 million face-masks...ventilators and protective goggles," Di Maio told Sky TG24 in an interview.
Every region of Italy now has plentiful stocks of these crucial items, Di Maio said.
"Without this help from abroad and the efforts of our diplomatic network, we would never have made it," Di Maio said.
Should more supplies be needed, the foreign ministry is poised to source further material, Di Maio added.
"I hope Italian industry will be able to switch to manufacturing these items but until then we will scour the globe for them," he noted.
