Amid the uncontrollable Covid-19 crisis in India, oxygen concentrators arrived in the capital Delhi from the United States.
Union Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, in a tweet, said, “All efforts to strengthen India’s fight against the pandemic are on. 318 Philips Oxygen Concentrators on @airindiain flight from JFK Airport land at @DelhiAirport. Let there be no doubt. We will turn the tide.”
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and offered to send resources and supplies to the Serum Institute of India to increase the production of the vaccine against COVID-19, ANI reported.
India recorded another global coronavirus record after it registered single-day cases of over 350,000.
A day earlier the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal announced the extension of the lockdown for another week. He said the present oxygen requirement is 700 tons, but they are getting only 330 to 335.
While the government is scrambling to find solutions as dwindling oxygen supplies have been a major factor in the spike in fatalities, experts say the worst is yet to come.
“The government is not able to manage things and now people have been left to look after themselves. It is going to get worse before it improves,” epidemiologist Lalit Kant told Anadolu Agency.
“The situation right now is that people are asked to buy essentials. This tells you the ground crisis. It is very chaotic and frightening. There is helplessness around.”
Earlier, the US said it would immediately provide raw materials required for the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines, ventilators and personal protective equipment, to help India battle the second wave of the pandemic.
“Spoke today with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval about the spike in Covid cases in India and we agreed to stay in close touch in the coming days. The United States stands in solidarity with the people of India and we are deploying more supplies and resources,” Jake Sullivan, US national security advisor, tweeted.
New Delhi has been requesting the US to remove restrictions on raw material exports that could assist India in speeding up the production of Covid-19 vaccines. While both nations have been engaged in a dialogue, the US state department spokesperson had earlier stated that its first obligation was towards vaccinating the people in America.
