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‘Heartbreaking’: Greta Thunberg urges global help for India amid Covid-19 crisis
As India battles the second Covid-19 wave with stretched medical facilities, the government has stepped up efforts to cater to the requirements and has increased the production of oxygen and vaccines.
Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg called for support from the world over for India as she learned about the ‘heartbreaking’ developments in the country battling the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Heartbreaking to follow the recent developments in India. The global community must step up and immediately offer the assistance needed. #CovidIndia,” she tweeted tagging a news report on India’s Covid-19 situation.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his solidarity with India earlier in the day and extended his wishes for the speedy recovery of people infected with Covid-19. On Friday, France, Australia, and the European Union (EU) also offered support and solidarity to India amid a massive surge in coronavirus infections.
India is reporting over 300,000 Covid-19 cases for the past three days amid challenges on the health infrastructure front. The toll due to the viral disease has also gone up with 2,000 fatalities being logged daily for several days now. Many states have flagged a shortage of oxygen, and medicines like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, which a key to the treatment of patients with the coronavirus disease.
As India battles the second Covid-19 wave with stretched medical facilities, the government has stepped up efforts to cater to the requirements and has increased the production of oxygen and vaccines to curb the rapid spread of the disease. Earlier in the day, the government waived customs duty and health cess on the import of vaccines against the coronavirus disease and oxygen and related equipment needed to treat critical Covid-19 patients for three months.
“In order to augment their production and availability and to meet the rising demand, it was decided to grant full exemption from Basic Customs Duty and health cess on import of the following (16) items related to Oxygen and Oxygen related equipment for a period of three months with immediate effect,” the Union ministry of finance said in a statement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on the issue.
The finance ministry informed that Indian Air Force (IAF) planes are bringing in cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore and it is also transporting oxygen tanks in the country to reduce travel times.
