Turkey sends 26,000 virus test kits to Colombia

ANKARA

Turkey has dispatched 26,000 test kits for the novel coronavirus to Colombia, the latter's National Institute of Food and Drug Monitoring (INVIMA) said Tuesday.

INVIMA said in a statement that the kits arrived on Sunday, enabling the country to run tests quicker and more efficiently.

INVIMA Director Julio Cesar Aldana Bula thanked the Turkish government for its support.

Colombia has 277 confirmed coronavirus cases and three deaths.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 168 countries and regions, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide totals 378,679 and the death toll now tops 16,500, while over 100,000 people have recovered.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas