COVID: US to Deliver Supplies Worth $100 Million to Support India

It will supply 20,000 treatment courses of Remdesivir drug, which India is facing a dire shortage of.

The United States is delivering supplies worth over USD 100 million to help India combat the second wave of the pandemic. Image of US President Biden used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter / The Quint)

The United States is delivering supplies of over $100 million to help India combat the second wave of the pandemic, which has crippled the healthcare infrastructure.

In a statement on Wednesday, 28 April, the Joe Biden administration announced that it will send urgent relief to India by US government’s assistance flights from Thursday, 29 April.

In addition, it said, “US state governments, private companies, non-government organizations, and thousands of Americans have mobilized to deliver vital oxygen, related equipment, and essential supplies for Indian hospitals to support frontline healthcare workers and the people of India most affected in the current outbreak.”

“Just as India had sent assistance to the United States when our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need.”

White House

What is US Providing India As COVID Relief?

As India has reported several deaths due to an acute oxygen shortage, the US will be delivering 1,100 cylinders initially and 1,700 oxygen concentrators. It will also be supplying multiple Oxygen Generation Units, each of which will support 20 patients, and a team of US experts will offer support to Indian doctors.

The US is supplying 15 million N95 masks for patients and frontline healthcare workers. US has redirected its order of AstraZeneca vaccine supplies to India, enabling the Centre to produce over 20 million doses of the COVID vaccine.

It will to provide 1 million Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), which the White House uses to provide reliable results in less than 15 minutes to help identify and prevent community spread.

The US will also supply 20,000 treatment courses of Remdesivir drug, which India is facing a dire shortage of.

The statement noted that US will provide public health assistance, “US CDC experts will work hand-in-hand with India’s experts in the following areas: laboratory, surveillance and epidemiology, bioinformatics for genomic sequencing and modeling, infection prevention and control, vaccine rollout, and risk communication.”

India on Thursday, 29 April, reported 3,79,257 new COVID-19 cases, 3,645 deaths and 2,69,507 discharges on Wednesday, as per Union Health Ministry. The death toll in the country now stands at 2,04,832.

The country’s total number of cases now stands at 1,83,76,524.