India is currently fighting a wave of COVID-19 that is sickening hundreds of thousands each day and is killing thousands. The situation is extremely serious, with more than 18.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 205,000 confirmed deaths as of April 29, 2021. At the current rate of infection, it is projected that nearly 960,000 people in India will die from the disease. International Medical Corps is activating our emergency response to address the dire situation.
This second wave of COVID-19 in India-which many officials are attributing to COVID-19 variants-has officials imposing a new lockdown to prevent the collapse of a healthcare system that is already facing a critical shortage of beds, ventilators and lifesaving medical-grade oxygen. Additionally, vaccine hesitancy is high within the country, with less than 60% of the population reportedly willing to be vaccinated.
International Medical Corps is coordinating with in-country partners to help meet the most urgent health needs. Together, our teams will provide supplies like oxygen concentrators, ventilators, patient monitors, and personal protective equipment and hygiene care; as well as setting up temporary COVID-19 facilities. We will also address concerns of vaccine hesitancy, key to not only addressing this surge now, but cases moving forward
International Medical Corps maintains extensive experience responding to COVID-19, activating in some 30 countries globally since March 2020. We will apply our infectious disease expertise and use our extensive logistics capacities to support India and the global community to combat this surge of COVID-19. Working with local partners, we will also ensure a sustainable response and building local capacity.
