Indian mission in UK sends SOS for Covid help

LONDON

: The Indian high commission here put out an

SOS

tweet late Saturday pleading for help with the devastating Covid crisis in India.

The mission wrote on its official Twitter account that India urgently needs "empty refillable oxygen cylinders with 10-litre and 45-litre LMO capacity, oxygen concentrators as well as "in situ oxygen manufacturing plants for hospitals" and the drug Remdesvir.

Any individual that can help is urged to write to Rahul Nangare at fstrade.london@meagov.in.



The appeal came a day after UK PM Boris Johnson said the UK was ready to provide whatever assistance India needs. Indian diplomatic sources told TOI that the Indian high commissioner in London, Gaitri Kumar, and British high commisioner to India Alex Ellis were in direct contact and high-level talks about how the UK could assist India had begun. Remdesivir was deveoped by

Gilead Sciences

, headquartered in California.

"There is huge demand and the peak has not come yet, so that is why demand exceeds supply for remdesivir and oxygen," the source said.

Late Saturday night the

British Asian Trust

launched an emergency appeal to raise funds to help Indians affected by the deadly second wave of Covid-19. The British Asian Trust 'India Covid-19 emergency appeal' was launched on Virgin Money and JustGiving websites.

"Daily Covid-19 cases are the highest on record for any country at any point during the pandemic - and the worst still to come. Families cannot get treatment for their loved ones and the lockdown continues to impact livelihoods, education and mental health," the appeal states.


Lord Gadhia, a trustee of the Trust, said: "We are getting a lot of enquires from the UK Indian diaspora about how they can help in the current situation. We have therefore launched appeal pages on the two major UK donation sites. The British Asian Trust works with some long-standing and highly reputable delivery partners in India like Jan Sahas and

Goonj

to reach the frontline. In the last campaign during the first lockdown in India we raised £1 million in our Covid-19 emergency appeal and were able to save 137,000 lives by reaching 27,500 families with emergency kits containing essential food and hygiene rations. This time around we will assess the most pressing requirements and act accordingly."