UK to send medical equipment to India in fight against Covid

London, April 26 : The UK will be sending more than 600 pieces of vital medical equipment to India to support it in fight against Covid-19, the UK government announced.
The assistance package, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, includes ventilators and oxygen concentrators from surplus stocks. The Department of Health and Social Care have worked closely with the NHS, as well as suppliers and manufacturers in the UK to identify reserve life-saving equipment that can be sent to India.
Recently, India has been reporting high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths while several reports of shortage of oxygen are also coming.
The first shipment of equipment has already left the UK and it will be arriving to India in the early hours of Tuesday. Further shipments are due to follow later this week.
In total, nine airline container loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country this week. This equipment will be crucial in helping to save the lives of the most vulnerable in India. The oxygen concentrators, for example, can extract oxygen from the air in the atmosphere so that it can be provided to patients, taking the strain off hospital oxygen systems and allowing oxygen to be provided in situations where hospital oxygen supplies have run out.
The UK is working closely with the Government of India to identify further assistance it can provide in the coming days.