Israel to Provide Aid to India Amidst Alarming Rise in Coronavirus Cases
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In recent news, the State of Israel has decided that it will be making international efforts to ensure that the coronavirus does not cause more damage in the world than it already has. This was announced by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, late on Tuesday.
He went on to add how India, a friend of Israel’s, is dealing with the spread of the pandemic in a difficult and cruel manner. While in a cabinet meeting, he said that the country is ready to give support to India, as part of an international effort to ensure that the spread of the virus, and its consequences, are minimized.
Netanyahu also sent condolences from Israel to Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, as well as the citizens.
The Prime Minister added that while the citizens of Israel are happy, he realizes that there are other countries across the globe that are suffering. He added that the country will make efforts in any way possible to help India.
However, neither the Foreign Ministry nor the Office of the Prime Minister has provided additional details about the aid to be given to India.
When the pandemic first started to spread in India, the government and relevant authorities did a great job of stemming its rise. But reports of the recent weeks have shown that the morbidity numbers in the country have soared.
India reported over 300,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday alone. These figures were recorded sixth day in a row, taking the caseload to 17.64 million. The death toll in the country stood at 197,894 the last time it was checked.
As of Tuesday, not even 10% of the population of India had been given even a single dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Other countries, such as UK, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others have extended their help to India in the form of oxygen containers and ventilators.
Gilad Cohen, the Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Ministry, took to the micro-blogging website, Twitter to talk about the aid. He said that the authorities are racking up support from the private sector, the citizens of Israel, and the government to help India, who is struggling immensely with the coronavirus pandemic.
Numerous oxygen containers have been sent by SmartAID, an Israeli aid organization, to multiple hospitals in the last week alone. SmartAID was one of the first organizations to pledge support to the government in New Delhi, after the crisis started to unfold in India and the number of cases, along with deaths, rose sharply.
Alethea Gold, the global goodwill ambassador for SmartAID, added that the organization has been cooperating tirelessly with some local partners in the State of Israel, as well as those in New Delhi, to put together support packages for India. She believes that these packages will ensure that Israel’s friend is able to successfully curb the rise of cases and deaths in the country.
