COVID-19: Indian Navy bringing critical items from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore

New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) Indian naval ships were bringing in critical items, including oxygen generators and cylinders, from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore to help fight the second wave of COVID-19, the Defence Ministry said on Friday.

Not just ships, vehicles of the Indian Army and aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are shuttling every day to ferry oxygen generators, medical supplies, lab equipment and medical personnel to COVID hotspots from domestic sources and abroad, the ministry noted in a statement.

Apart from domestic flights, scores of sorties have been undertaken by the IAF to get medical supplies and oxygen generators from Germany, Singapore, UAE, Oman, the UK, Australia and Thailand, it said.

The Navy has also proved to be the lifeline for island territories such as Lakshadweep, the ministry said.

"Indian Navy Ships are bringing in shipments of critical items including oxygen generators and cylinders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore," it said.

India has been badly hit by a second wave of COVID-19, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a severe shortage of vaccines, oxygen, drugs, equipment and beds.

The hospitals set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in New Delhi, Patna, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, and the ones coming up, such as in Varanasi, are all being manned by more than 500 doctors and nurses of the armed forces, the ministry noted.

"Packed in PPE kits with adult diapers on, these men and women in uniform have been rendering yeoman service round the clock in these makeshift COVID care facilities," it added.

With a record 4,14,188 new coronavirus infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,14,91,598 on Friday, while the count of active cases crossed the 36-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The death toll has increased to 2,34,083 with 3,915 fatalities being reported in a day, data uploaded by the ministry showed. PTI DSP IJT