Help Handling COVID-19 In India, UK And EU Send Ventilators And Oxygen

Illustration of COVID-19 patient care. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars News Agency/Mohsen Atayi)

JAKARTA - India has again set a world daily record for four consecutive days of cases of COVID-19 infection. Last Sunday, April 25, India recorded 349,691 new cases of infection.

Meanwhile, reports of daily mortality due to COVID-19 also experienced a spike, in which 2,767 people died. Total India recorded COVID-19 cases reaching 16.96 million cases, with the death toll reaching 192,311.

Responding to conditions in India, Britain and the European Union are planning to send aid. One of the most needed assistance is a ventilator and oxygen concentrator.

The Indian government has deployed military planes and trains to get much-needed oxygen to Delhi from other parts of the country and foreign countries, including Singapore.

On conditions in India, Britain said on Sunday it had sent more than 600 medical devices, including oxygen concentrators and ventilators to India to help the country as it struggles to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases.

The equipment comes from British surplus stock and the first shipment is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi, India on Tuesday morning, the UK Foreign Ministry said.

"We stand side by side with India as friends and partners during a very worrying time in the fight against COVID-19," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"We will continue to work closely with the Government of India during this difficult time. I am determined to ensure that Britain does everything it can to support the international community in the global fight against the pandemic," he added.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has activated the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism, seeking to deliver oxygen and medicine to India after receiving a request from Delhi.

"Concerned about the epidemiological situation in India. We are ready to support," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

"The EU executive is already coordinating with EU countries that are ready to provide the much-needed oxygen & medicine quickly," wrote the European Commission for humanitarian assistance Janez Lenarcic on Twitter.