Covid-19: Six US planes carrying medical supplies reached India in past few days

The US has so far sent six planes carrying emergency supplies to India which is battling one of its worst public health crisesThe emergency supplies include 20000 courses of Remdesivir 125000 vials to help treat critically ill patients nearly 1500 oxygen cylinders which can be repeatedly refilled at local supply centres and one million rapid diagnostic tests to quickly identify Covid19 casesThe six planes which have landed in just six days also carried nearly 550 mobile oxygen concentrators that obtain oxygen from ambient air These units have a lifespan of more than five years and can serve multiple patients at once depending on their oxygen needsThe US has also sent nearly 25 million N95 masks to protect healthcare professionals and other frontline workersAccording to the USAID a largescale deployable Oxygen Concentration System that can provide oxygen to treat 20 or more patients at a time and 210 pulse oximeters to measure oxygen levels in a patientrsquos blood to determine whether a higher level of care is needed has also been sent to IndiaThe US government assistance to combat the current crisis is about USD100 million The United States is continuing to work closely with Indian officials and health experts to identify and respond to emerging trends in this ongoing crisis the USAID saidThe six shipments were made possible by a USAIDled wholeofgovernment effort which included the Department of Defense Department of State Department of Health and Human Services Travis Air Force Base in partnership with the state of California National Airlines and United Airlines it addedLast week the USAID immediately allocated funding to purchase locally an additional 1000 mobile oxygen concentratorsThese lifesaving units will be used in hundreds of primary health care facilities to address Indiarsquos critical oxygen shortageThe USAID said it is also supporting the Government of Indiarsquos efforts to stand up 150 Pressure Swing Adsorption oxygen generating plants allowing 150 healthcare facilities to generate their own oxygen for years to comeThe official US response over the last few days to Indiarsquos horrific Covid19 crisis underscores the depth and breadth of Washingtonrsquos unwavering commitment to India Both the Biden administration and the US Congress have spared no effort toward this end in a testament to the strength and character of the bilateral relationshiprdquo Ronak D Desai an expert on USIndia relations at Harvard University and an international investigations attorney at Paul Hastings LLP told PTIObserving that Congressional efforts to assist India in its darkest hour have proven pervasive bipartisan and bicameral Desai said the speed at which members in both the House and Senate have mobilised to reduce Indiarsquos suffering serves as a potent reminder of the enduring goodwill India continues to enjoy in the corridors of the US CongressProfound credit is due to Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi Ro Khanna Pramilia Jayapal and Dr Ami Bera for their steadfast leadership in helping mobilize the Congressional response to Indiarsquos COVID crisis and bringing national and international attention to the grave situation in India why it matters and why all American should carerdquo he saidLess than five years ago such community representation in Congress would have been hard to predict Less than five years later it is clear why such representation is so crucially important he said in response to a questionNoting that the scope and substance of Washingtonrsquos assistance to India over the past several days demonstrates the sincerity and reliability of the US Desai said the Biden administration and its Congressional partners have proven that they treat their partnership and engagement with India in a nontransactional mannerThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever