International aid for India: US, UK, Germany and France to send emergency supplies amid huge increase in coronavirus cases

The world is watching with extreme concern what is happening in India, which is facing a dramatic wave of coronavirus infections and reported a new world record this Sunday with nearly 350,000 daily cases and more than 2,000 deaths. In front of this situation, The United States, United Kingdom and Germany have announced that they will send emergency aid to the country.

Washington to “Immediately” Send Materials for Vaccine Manufacturing, along with Therapies, Tests, Ventilators, and Protective Gear, Joe Biden’s government reported on Sunday.

“The United States has identified specific raw material sources urgently needed for the manufacture of the Covishield vaccine which will be immediately made available to India.”said a White House statement.

Washington also “identified therapeutic supplies, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment which will be immediately made available to India, ”added the statement from National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne.

With 1.3 billion people, India recorded nearly 350,000 infections and 2,767 deaths from covid-19 on Sunday in the past 24 hours. With these data, it reached a total of 16,960,172 cases and 192,311 deaths.

In the capital, New Delhi, hospitals are overwhelmed, short of oxygen and drugs.

The United States made no mention of shipping excess vaccine from AstraZeneca to India, after the U.S. chief pandemic adviser, Anthony Fauci, said on Sunday that this possibility would be considered.

The United States has about 30 million doses of the low-cost AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not approved for use in the country, and Fauci, the White House’s chief epidemiologist, told the network. ABC that the idea of ​​sending them to India is “something that is under consideration”.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, combined with the single dose of Johnson & Johnson, is suspected of causing serious blood clots in a few cases, but its use is approved in many countries, including India.

Experts warn that no one will be safe from covid-19 until everyone is safe, including developing countries, so it is in the global interest that richer countries, eager to overcome the pandemic, help large low-income countries like India to immunize their populations.

Britain, France and Germany have pledged to help as India’s coronavirus crisis grows.

Boris Johnson’s British government, for its part, announced on Sunday that send emergency medical supplies, such as ventilators and oxygen concentrators, India.

“Vital medical equipment, including hundreds of oxygen concentrators and ventilators, are now traveling from the UK to the United Kingdom. IndiaSaid the president, who expressed his support for the former British colony.

London will send more than 600 units of medical supplies to fight the virus at India’s request. UK “will do everything possible to support the international community in the global fight against the pandemic”Johnson pointed out.

The first shipment, followed by others throughout the week, is expected to arrive in New Delhi early Tuesday, according to the British Foreign Office. A total of nine air supply containers will be shipped.

France, meanwhile, plans to offer additional “significant” oxygen capacity in the coming days, the government of Emmauel Macron announced on Sunday. Help will include essential oxygen ventilatorsa source told the agency AFP, without giving more details.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also indicated that her government was preparing to send emergency aid to India. “I want to express to the Indian people my condolences for the terrible suffering that covid-19 has again caused in their communities”the president said in a message on the Twitter network, with her spokesperson, Steffen Seibert.

“The fight against the pandemic is our common fight. Germany stands in solidarity with India and is urgently preparing a support mission, ”he added.

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi said on Sunday that his country is experiencing a coronavirus “storm”. After India set a new world record for daily infections, the president urged all citizens to get vaccinated and to act with caution.

“We were confident our morale was good after successfully tackling the first wave, but this storm shook the nation.”Modi said in a radio address.

His government has come under fire for letting its guard down earlier this year, when large religious and political rallies were allowed to take place as cases fell below 10,000 a day.

Hospitals and doctors have issued urgent notices saying they cannot cope with the flood of patients.

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, extended a lockout in the capital for a week that was to end on Monday. COVID-19 kills one person every four minutes in the city.

Epidemiologists and virologists say more infectious variants of the virus, including an Indian virus known as B.1.6.1.7, have fueled the fierce increase in cases.

Doctors at the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi found that one patient infects up to nine out of ten contacts, compared to the four scenarios of last year.

In the past month alone, daily cases have increased eightfold and deaths tenfold. Health experts say the death toll is likely much higher.

With information from AFP and Reuters

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