UN Helping India Fight Covid Second Wave, Deployed 2,600 Field Officers For Support: Spokesperson

The United Nations is assisting in setting up mobile hospital units and is also providing for laboratories. About 2,600 WHO field officers were deployed on an immediate basis to support health authorities.

Representative Photo

New Delhi: The United Nations is helping India in its battle against the second and more severe wave of Covid-19 infections, a UN spokesperson revealed.

As stated by him, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are procuring equipment and supplies which include 7,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 nasal devices for oxygen supply, as well as oxygen-generating plants, Covid-19 testing machines, and personal protective kits for the treatment of Covid patients in India.

The UN team in India, led by Resident Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien, is supporting the authorities’ response to the pandemic by providing equipment and supplies, including to local governments, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Farhan Haq, said on Wednesday.

The organisation is assisting in setting up mobile hospital units and is also providing for laboratories. About 2,600 WHO field officers were deployed on an immediate basis to support health authorities.

UNICEF involved experts to work on risk governance in Maharashtra, a state which was once again witnessing the worst Coronavirus situation in India.

Farhan Haq was addressing a daily press briefing in New York when he also revealed that the UN team in India is continuing its campaign to highlight the three Ws: Wear a mask, Wash your Hands, Watch your distance and stay six feet apart.

India alone accounted for 38 percent of all new Covid-19 cases recorded worldwide in the seven-day period that ended on April 25. India also reported a 93 percent week-on-week increase in the number of coronavirus-related deaths last week. In the past seven days, 15,161 people lost their lives to the virus, the WHO said on Wednesday.

(With Agency Inputs)