The first respiratory masks and other protective equipment such as protective gowns, gloves, protective suits and disinfectants have already been delivered to the regional offices of the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the central warehouses of the federal states and handed over to the federal authorities in the last two weeks.

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn: "We want to protect those who are fighting the coronavirus in doctors' surgeries, hospitals and care homes from infection as best we can. That is why we, as the Federal Ministry of Health, are now purchasing urgently needed protective equipment centrally. Around 37 million protective masks had arrived in Germany by the end of this week. Millions more are on their way. I would like to thank everyone involved for helping to procure and distribute sufficient protective clothing for our medical staff in a competitive global market."

"In our express process, the protective equipment boards the plane in Shanghai (China) in the morning and is delivered to all German states over the course of the next day," says CEO Jens Fiege, who is the fifth generation to run the company together with his cousin Felix Fiege. "This is an incredible challenge that we can only overcome together. All partners are working closely together in a spirit of trust: from the suppliers in Asia to the TÜV, the customs authorities, Lufthansa Cargo, the Federal Police and the BMG as the client to the recipients in the respective federal states. As a logistics provider, we can thus make our contribution to overcoming the coronavirus crisis."

Fiege manages the delivery of the various suppliers and manufacturers of the protective equipment to the airports in China, takes care of customs clearance and handling and then usually flies them to Germany with its partner Lufthansa Cargo. TÜV Nord checks the quality of the goods in China. Under police protection, Fiege transports the goods from the German airports to a central transshipment point, where they are prepared for delivery to the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the federal states at night under the highest safety and hygiene regulations in accordance with a distribution key issued by the Federal Ministry of Health. The goods are then delivered nationwide within a few hours. This express process continues until the regional warehouses of the federal states and health care providers have been supplied with sufficient stock.