Egypt has received four tons of medical protective supplies from China as a measure to help the country combat the spread of the coronavirus, the Egyptian health ministry said on Thursday.

The supplies include 20,000 N95 respiration masks, 10,000 protective gowns and 10,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing kits, the ministry said.

Chinese Ambassador to Cairo Liao Liqiangwho, who received the aid along with Egyptian health ministry officials, said the assistance is the first batch in a series of shipments planned for "the next few days.”

Liao pledged his county will share all information and technical results on the respiratory disease with Egypt to help it in its fight against the pandemic. Experts from the two countries had held a meeting via video conference to discuss measures to fight the disease, he said.  

A protective face mask factory inaugurated by China in Egypt earlier this month will increase its production lines to five, each with a capacity of 100,000 masks a day to help boost the country's reserves of protective gear, the ambassador added.

Last month, Egypt sent China a shipment of protective medical supplies during a visit by health minister Hala Zayed.

Egypt also dispatched 10 tons of protective equipment to China in early February, according to state news agency MENA.

Egypt has so far recorded 2,505 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 183 deaths. Meanwhile, China -- where the virus first emerged late last year -- has reported over 82,300 cases and 3,342 deaths.