The gift comes as the United States continues its patchwork, ineffective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam News reports that Hanoi officials arranged for two tons of face masks to be sent to New York City last week. On July 9, the Vietnamese Embassy in the US and Vietnam's permanent mission to the United Nations delivered the medical and anti-bacterial cloth face masks to the city.

Penny Abeywardena, New York's commissioner for international affairs, thanked the people of Hanoi for their contribution at the handover ceremony, Đặng Đình Quý, head of the permanent mission, said he hopes the masks aid the city's fight against the outbreak. According to the Hanoi Times, the masks were produced in Vietnam to European standards.

New York City had been the global epicenter of the pandemic before a strict lockdown — parts of which remain in place — brought America's largest metropolitan area back from a crisis.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time Vietnam has donated medical supplies to other countries. On June 1, Hanoi's city government gave 100,000 cloth masks and 50,000 medical-grade masks to New York.

In April, the country shipped 450,000 protective suits to the US and 550,000 masks to several EU countries.

[Image via Twitter account NYC International Affairs]