Bahrain among countries offering assistance to India to fight COVID-19

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain is among the over 40 countries that have committed to providing India urgently-required medical supplies like oxygen-related equipment and critical medicines to help it deal with an unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said yesterday.

At a media briefing, he said India is looking at getting in the immediate future around 550 oxygen-generating plants, 4,000 oxygen concentrators, over 10,000 oxygen cylinders and 17 cryogenic oxygen tanks, some of which have already arrived.

Bahrain was to send a shipment of 40 metric tonnes of oxygen that Indian Navy ships were expected to bring back. Other Gulf countries including UAE and Kuwait have also offered help. A flight from the UAE was expected later yesterday with 140 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen while Kuwait was to supply 185 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen besides 1,000 oxygen cylinders.

Indian embassies and missions worldwide had been given lists of urgently needed items – liquid oxygen, oxygen-producing units, and key drugs such as Remdesivir, Favipiravir, and Tocilizumab they could coordinate with foreign governments and corporations to expedite deliveries.