NYC To Ship COVID-19 Test Kits, Ventilators To India: De Blasio

New York City NY

14 May, 2021

1:11 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — City officials will send more than 4 million coronavirus test kits and nearly 5,000 ventilators and other equipment to India as world's second largest country continues to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a radio appearance on Friday. De Blasio said that the city would send aid to India during an appearance Friday on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. The mayor said that the city is working with the federal government as well as the India government to get supplies sent over. The ventilators are among those that were developed in New York City last year when de Blasio said that the city couldn't get ventilators fast enough from the U.S. government to cope with the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the ventilators, de Blasio said that the city would be sending bipap machines to help health workers and others deal with a constant influx of new COVID-19 patients. India has experienced more than 343,000 new cases of COVID-19 and more than 4,000 deaths in a 24-hour period, according to CNBC report Friday. More than 24 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, where at least 262,000 people have died. "It's horrible and painful to watch," de Blasio said of the ongoing health crisis in India. He added: "(India) is a country we feel very strong ties to with so many Indian-Americans here and so New York City is going to step up and help the people of India through this crisis." The mayor said that the level of need in India has been become overwhelming and that any source of help that could arrive there would be welcomed. De Blasio also said Friday that at the time the ventilators were developed in New York City last year, officials believed that there would come a day when they could also be used to help others. A CNBC report on Friday indicated that health officials in India believed that the virus would peak by the third week of April. Daily cases were expected to remain about 100,000 but cases have more than tripled since then, including on May 7 when the country saw a record 414,188 cases in a 24-hour period.