India received 17 consignments of medical aid from nations to battle Covid surge

The Centre on Tuesday prepared an exhaustive list of consignments of medical equipment that India has received from different nations amid spiraling surge in coronavirus disease cases.

The government said between April 24 and May 2, India has received 17 consignments – comprising of essential medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, cylinders of medical oxygen, ventilators and BiPAP machines, bedside monitors, anti-viral drugs, rapid kits to detect Covid-19 virus, pulse oximeters, N95 masks and personal protective equipment among others -- from 14 countries.

The United Kingdom was the first to rush its consignment to India on April 24, where it sent 95 oxygen concentrators, 20 Lumis BiPAP machines, 20 ventilators and allied equipment. They were sent to various hospitals in the national capital.

The aid continued to flow in. Singapore was the next nation to send 256 oxygen cylinders on May 28, at a time when both government-run and private hospitals across the country reported shortages in supply of medical oxygen to critical patients.

Government officials aware of the developments said the oxygen concentrators from Singapore were uniformly distributed among All India Institute of Medical Science in Bhubaneswar, Patna, Raipur and Ranchi.

Russia, too, extended help to India by sending oxygen concentrators, lung ventilators, bedside monitors and at least 200,000 packs of anti-viral drug Favipiravir, used to treat symptoms related to the coronavirus disease.

Even countries like Romania sent at least 75 oxygen cylinders and 80 oxygen concentrators, which helped hospitals in Delhi such as Lady Hardinge, Safdarjung and Aiims Jhajhhar, data shared by the government shows.

Some of the other counties that have helped India in times of its crisis are the United States, UAE, Ireland, Thailand, Germany, France, Uzbekistan and Taiwan.

The biggest consignment that India has received so far are from the US and United Arab Emirates. The US sent 714,301 rapid detection kits, 125,000 Remdesivir vials, 994,800 N95 masks apart from oxygen cylinders in two separate consignments while the UAE rushed in 480 ventilators, 170,7600 masks and hundreds and thousands of PPE kits, the data reveals.