The European Commission on Wednesday announced that it will allocate an initial 2.2 million euros in emergency funding to respond to the surge of COVID-19 cases in India.
According to a statement by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, the funding will support the World Health Organization (WHO) for a 6-month case management of COVID-19 patients, as well as strengthening laboratory capacity for COVID-19 testing.
"We are providing additional EU support towards the fight against COVID-19 in India. This comes on top of the generous and swift assistance from EU Member States that stepped up as part of Team Europe to offer critical supplies of oxygen, ventilators and medicines over the last few days. We stand ready to work with the WHO and other partners on the ground to jointly fight this battle at this difficult time - we are stronger together," said Janez Lenarcic, Commissioner for Crisis Management.
Member states of the European Union (EU) have already mobilised supplies of urgently needed oxygen, ventilators and medicines from Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden to India over the last week through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
India is currently in the grip of the devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and has been registering over three lakh new infections and more than 3,000 deaths on a daily basis for the past few days.
The worsening COVID-19 situation in India has seen a surge in the demand for medical oxygen and beds for the COVID-19 patients.
A shipment carrying two oxygen generators, 548 oxygen concentrators, 365 ventilators and other medical equipment arrived here on Tuesday from Ireland to provide support in India's fight against the second COVID-19 surge.
The member states of the EU are delivering medical aid following India's request for support as the country has witnessed a record surge in COVID-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic.
The aid is being provided through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which is coordinated by the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission. Several countries like Romania, Italy, Germany, France and Belgium have already sent in the supplies.
( With inputs from ANI )
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