India to receive another consignment of Covid-19 supplies from Canada

A second consignment of relief material to help India tackle its ongoing Covid-19 crisis has been dispatched and will arrive in New Delhi on Thursday

A second consignment of relief material to help India tackle its ongoing Covid-19 crisis has been dispatched and will arrive in New Delhi on Thursday.

Canadian Armed Forces members load 300 ventilators bound for India on a CC-150 Polaris at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, Canada on Tuesday. (AP)

Making the announcement, Karina Gould, the minister for international development tweeted that 300 ventilators and tech equipment were en route to India.

The CC-150 Polaris aircraft carrying the material left the base in Trenton on Tuesday, as minister for national defence Harjit Sajjan said the Canadian Forces “will always be there to support those in need. We will get through this pandemic together”.

That aircraft was also utilised when the first batch was sent on May 5.That shipment included 25,000 vials of the anti-viral remdesivir as well as 50 ventilators.

The Canadian government is also providing support through Unicef’s response to the pandemic in India with the urgent provision of 1,450 oxygen concentrators. This support is in addition to 10 million Canadian dollars donation to the Canadian Red Cross Society, which is supporting the Indian Red Cross Society’s procurement of essential supplies and medicines.

When the original shipment was sent, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had tweeted that the “surplus material” was being sent over to “support those on the front lines”.

In a statement, Canada’s high commissioner to New Delhi Nadir Patel said, “Collective action is the only way to defeat #COVID19.”