India to receive first batch of 100 ventilators for COVID-19 patients from U.S next week

The US will ship next week the first batch of 100 ventilators it has donated to India to treat the coronavirus patients, President Donald Trump has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a conference call, the White House said.Trump spoke with Modi on Tuesday and "the two leaders discussed the G-7 (summit), the COVID-19 response, and regional security issues", it said.

"The president was happy to announce that the United States would be ready to ship the first tranche of 100 donated ventilators to India next week, the White House said in a readout of the call. India is now the seventh among the worst-hit nations by the COVID-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. India has reported over two lakh confirmed coronavirus cases and 5,815 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Ventilators have emerged as a key medical device to treat critical coronavirus patients.