New Delhi: Even as international assistance pours into India, authorities have been been to deliver it to various end-users– hospitals spread across the country. The top recipient of the assistance has been to AIIMS spread across the country, Safdarjung Delhi, Lady Harding, RML Hospital in Delhi, ITBP, DRDO. The ministry of external affair’s covid cell is working 24×7 and contacting Indian missions and a mechanism or standard operating procedure has been set up to smoothen the early delivery of assistance.
So far, 11,000 items of over 3000 tons have been dispatched all over the country with the Indian Air force and Indian navy playing an important part in transporting material. The first flight of assistance came on 27th April from the UK. 80 oxygen concentrators from the UK went to DRDO Patna, 100 to DRDO Delhi, 100 to DRDO Ahmedabad, 120 to Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi with RML and Safdarjung getting 50 ventilators each. UK’s assistance of Oxygen concentrators has been sent to states like Goa, Bihar, UP, Jharkhand. Australia had sent 43 Oxygen concentrators which have been delivered to West Bengal while 1056 ventilators sent by the country have been delivered to Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, and Bihar. 2 Liquid Oxygen container that arrived from Bahrain has been given to DRDO.
France had sent 200 syringe pumps, 500 machine filters, 500 anti-bacterial filters, 28 Ventilators all of which have been delivered to Lady Hardinge Medical College. Germany had sent 120 ventilators of which 40 were given to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, 45 to RML in Delhi, and 35 to AIIMS, Jhajjar.
Assistance from Ireland went to AIIMS Patna, AIIMS Rai Barelli, AIIMS Chandigarh, AIIMS Rishikesh, AIIMS Jodhpur, AIIMS Bhopal, AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jhajjar, Safdarjung Delhi, and several northeastern states. One Oxygen Generation Plant and 20 ventilators sent by Italy went to ITBP hospital, Noida. The plant that was installed within 48 hours was “switched on” by the Italian Ambassador to India Vincenzo de Luca himself. The plant will supply oxygen to more than 100 beds at a time to the Covid19 patients admitted at the centre. Romania had sent 80 Oxygen concentrators, of which 40 went to AIIMS, Jhajhhar, 40 to Lady Harding and of the 75 Oxygen Cylinders, 40 went to Safdarjung, 35 to lady Harding. 150-bed side monitors, 75 ventilators, 20 Oxygen concentrators from Russia went to Lady Harding.
200 Oxygen concentrators sent by Mauritius went to AIIMS Mangakagiri (20), AIIMS Nagpur (60), AIIMS Raipur (50), JIPMER Puducherry (70). New Zealand sent 72 oxygen concentrators, all of which went to army Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt.
US supplies went across the country–from Remdesivir to Assam, Goa, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Delhi, PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS Kalyani, AIIMS Bhopal to Rapid detection kits to Delhi, Punjab, One Oxygen generation plant to ESIC Faridabad, Oxygen concentrators to Punjab, Kerala, Maharashtra. 256 Oxygen cylinders sent by Singapore were distributed to AIIMS Ranchi, Raipur, Patna, Lady Harding, with each getting 64 cylinders. Thailand had sent 30 Oxygen concentrators, with 15 going to Safdarjung, Delhi, 15 to CGHS, Delhi.
Taiwan’s assistance of Oxygen concentrators (150) went to Mizoram(15), Punjab(50), Haryana(35), National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, Delhi (50), and Oxygen Cylinders (500) to Mizoram(15), Himachal Pradesh (185) and Uttrakhand(300). UAE’s mega assistance went across the length and breadth of the country–the 1707600 masks were distributed to Aims Kalyani, Manglagiri, Rai Barelli, Jodhpur, Patna, Deogarh, Rishikesh, Delhi, 157 ventilators to DRDO Dehradun, Ventilators to various AIIMS, DRDO, ITBP.
The West Asian country, with which New Delhi’s partnership has grown in the past few years also sent 72000 goggles which went to Safdarjung(11000), Lady Harding(11000), RML(10000), AIIMS Rishikesh(10000), Jhajjar(20000) and Jodhpur(11000).
The ministry of external affair’s covid cell’s chief Dammu Ravi has assured that the international assistance sent to India by various countries is being distributed to various locations in real-time to bring immediate relief as the covid crisis wreaks the country.
Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary of MEA’s COVID Cell at a presser said, “not even one consignment has remained at the airport or the seaport. They have been directly loaded at the airport to distribution location in real-time, it goes and gets distributed and given to that location for the right use, immediate use” He explained, “most of the consignments have reached the destination. some may be in transit, for a logistical reason and every consignment is tracked and ensured that it is properly used in those locations.”
10000 doses of Remdesivir that was given by Bangladesh will be given to North-Eastern states of Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS). They were formally handed over at the Petrapole border checkpoint between India and Bangladesh on the 5th of May. Belgium had also sent 9000 vials of Remdesivir which have been delivered to the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, UP, Rajasthan. 20,000 doses of Favipiravir sent by Russia was went to sent to Lady Harding, Safdarjung, RLM, and AIIMS–Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Rai Barely, Delhi, Jhajjar.
So far, 4468 Oxygen concentrators, 13 Oxygen plants, 3417 oxygen cylinders, 3921 Ventilators, and 3 lakh Remdesivir have been dispatched or delivered as of 5th May. According to govt data, 235 items were dispatched on 27th April, 456 items from 28th April, 355 items, and 2 lakh strips of medicines on 29th April, 3595 items on 30th April, 30 items on 1st May 2926 items, and 1.3 lakh vials of Remdesivir on 2nd May, 225 items on 3rd May 1233 items and 1.6 vials of Remdesivir on 4th May 1782 items on 5th May.
The distribution of allocation that has been made is shared by foreign governments, both by Indian envoys abroad and MEA in Delhi so that they are fully aware of how their donation is used by India. Ravi highlighted that “we are deeply appreciative of the generous offer coming from abroad, both by foreign governments, individuals, private entities, NGOs who have expressed solidarity and support with India” and “Internationally recognition of the fact, that this crisis is not that of India alone, and it is a global crisis requiring collective actions and collective strategies”
The international assistance is coordinated with a cell at the health ministry, in which MEA plays an important role since all the goods come via them. The group meets every morning at around 9.30 am to coordinate the entire process. It comprises 2 senior officials from MEA, 2 joint secretaries from the health ministry, chief commissioner of customs, an economic advisor from the ministry of civil aviation, a technical advisor from the directorate general of health services, secretary-general of Indian red cross, and a representative from HLL Lifecare Limited which is an Indian govt owned healthcare manufacturing company.
The cell was set up on 26th April and on 28th April the process of delineation started.
India is receiving assistance from countries, NRI bodies, and the international private sector with the Indian red cross society being the single consignee for all the consignments coming from abroad. HLL is a customs clearing agent and the transported, which is assisted by the national disaster response force. The assistance is allocated on basis of accessibility and immediate use of resources to hospitals and states are given on basis of current active cases. In fact, a priority list of state and union territory is prepared.
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