The first batch of 11,267 sheep from Mongolia’s total donation of 30,000 sheep have recently arrived in Wuhan, in Central China’s Hubei province, the area hardest hit by COVID-19 earlier this year, the provincial department of commerce said on Friday.

The department on Friday afternoon held a welcoming ceremony for the sheep. Qin Jun, the department director, said the people of Hubei are sincerely grateful for the warm gifts and expressed their appreciation to the Mongolian government and people.

Qin Jun said the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and provincial government have decided to distribute the sheep to front line workers and their families as a token of thanks for their contributions in the fight against COVID-19. Also, the families of personnel who died on duty in the battle against the virus will benefit from Mongolia’s gift.

Hubei has commissioned professional logistics companies to transport the sheep and manage the cold chain transportation process strictly in accordance with the epidemic prevention requirements.