My Message on India on Verge of Humanitarian Disaster
India on Verge of Humanitarian Disaster with Second Covid Surge
Local Leaders Look to Help India in Covid Crisis:
https://www.wral.com/local-leaders-look-to-help-india-through-covid-crisis/19646090/
Covid 19 Crisis Impacts Morrisville Community
https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-news/covid-19-crisis-in-india-impacts-morrisville-community/
NC’s Indian Community Concerned with Covid Surge
https://abc11.com/health/ncs-indian-american-community-concerned-with-covid-19-surge-/10574969/
India reported 352,991 Covid 19 Deaths on Sunday and 17 million cases. 2000 Indian Citizens are dying daily, and this past Friday, the government reported 4 million cases. This situation is affecting many Indian American Families in Morrisville, Cary and throughout the state. I am coordinating with leaders in the Congress, to brief the community later this week on the US Response in a Virtual Town Hall and Radio Broadcast on Radio Nyra.
The situation is particularly dire in the capital New Delhi, which is under lockdown until May 3. The city is facing severe oxygen shortages. Delhi does not produce its own oxygen and relies on resources supplied by the central government, according to Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Several Delhi hospitals tweeted SOS messages over the weekend appealing for oxygen supplies. On Saturday, at least 20 critically ill patients died after oxygen supply was delayed at one Delhi hospital.
In a tweet Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his administration will set up 551 oxygen generation plants “in every district to ensure adequate oxygen availability.”
The central government has come under fierce criticism within the country for its handling of the outbreak, which has seen overwhelmed hospitals and residents post pleas on social media for more supplies from state and federal officials. Many have turned to the black market in a desperate attempt to save their loved ones.
Modi only addressed the nation on the crisis for the first time last week, having held political rallies and largely downplayed the second wave’s urgency in the weeks before.
During his monthly radio program on Sunday, Modi said he had held meetings with experts from the pharmaceutical industry, vaccine makers and oxygen producers on how to tackle the second wave.
“I’m speaking to you at a time when Covid-19 is testing our patience and capacity to bear pain. Many of our loved ones have left us in an untimely way,” he said on the radio program. “After successfully tackling the first wave, the nation’s morale was high, it was confident. But this storm has shaken the nation.”
United States to provide India Raw Materials to Develop Vaccines, Medical Supplies to fight Covid Surge
The Biden administration will immediately make raw materials needed for India’s coronavirus vaccine production available as the country works to counter the surge of Covid-19 infections.
In recent weeks, India has grappled with a staggering rise in new coronavirus infections. Over the weekend, India set another global record for daily cases, bringing the nation’s cumulative total to 16,960,172 cases, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins.
Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement on Sunday.
Horne added that the United States would send raw materials required for India to manufacture the Covishield vaccine, as well as therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and protective equipment.
“The U.S. Development Finance Corporation is funding a substantial expansion of manufacturing capability for BioE, the vaccine manufacturer in India, enabling BioE to ramp up to produce at least 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022,” Horne wrote, adding that the U.S. would also send a team of public health advisors from the Center for Disease Control and USAID to India.
The announcement comes on the heels of a Sunday call between Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Sullivan “affirmed America’s solidarity with India, the two countries with the greatest number of Covid-19 cases in the world,” according to a readout of the call.
The U.S. response comes after Britain, France and Germany pledged aid to India over the weekend.
On Sunday, Biden wrote on Twitter that his administration would help India in its time of need.”