France extends medical oxygen aid to India as hospitals stretch under virulent COVID hit

To help the country emerge out of its COVID-19 crisis, France will provide India assistance to boost its oxygen capacity in days ahead and will also dispatch essential hospital equipments, including oxygen respirators, the French presidency said Sunday. According to the office of the French President Emmanuel Macron, France is working on drafting a plan to effectively deliver oxygen respiratory equipments to India to tackle the shortage. French gas giant Air Liquide SA had also earlier diverted Oxygen shipment for industrial clients in India to the hospitals, while it will import additional supplies from the Middle East, Executive Vice-President Francois Jackow told a presser Friday.“The situation in India is becoming more and more dramatic,” Jackow said as he presented Air Liquide’s first-quarter results. “The crisis is picking up,” he continued. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the EU also pledged support to India in such dire times, as each leader announced plans to dispatch medical aid to India as hospitals buckle under the strain of the mounting variant caseload. Chancellor Merkel told German reporters that her country was preparing a "mission to support" India’s healthcare system. "To the people of India, I want to express my sympathy on the terrible suffering that COVID-19 has again brought over your communities. The fight against the pandemic is our common fight. Germany stands in solidarity with India and is urgently preparing a mission of support," Merkel said in a message on Twitter, expressing solidarity with India and providing reassurance to the citizens. The message was shared by her spokesperson Steffen Seibert. 

Standing in 'full solidarity' with India

President of the European Union (EU) Commission Ursula von der Leyen extended generous support to India saying that she was “alarmed by the epidemiological situation” in India. “We are ready to support,” von der Leyen said. “The EU is pooling resources to respond rapidly to India’s request for assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. We stand in full solidarity with the Indian people,” said the EU Commission president.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management and in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, Janez Lenarcic said that the EU had activated the Civil Protection Mechanism, and it will “do its utmost to mobilize assistance to support people of India.” Lenarcic added, “Our Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is already coordinating EU MS that are ready to provide urgently needed oxygen and medicine rapidly,'' he said.  

US president Joe Biden President, similarly pledged support with India saying that the US is determined to help India as it battles very dangerous wave. “Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need,” Biden said. He said that the US is “working around the clock” to immediately deploy India medicines, ventilators, and oxygen supplies.