COVID-19 in India: UK sends vital Oxygen & medical equipment as crisis rages on.

Boris Johnson said his thoughts were going out to the people in India, 'we're supporting India with vital medical equipment.'

The Foreign Office minister Nigel Adams said the first shipment of 200 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators arrived in India on Tuesday, with a further 400 concentrators following on Wednesday and Thursday.

"We want to provide them all the support because they are close friends, increasingly important partners, but also, we need this kind of international collaboration if we are going to get through the pandemic," he said.

"We are not going to be safe until we are all safe," he added.

Raab said the first shipment of over 600 items, including ventilators and oxygen concentrator devices, was expected to arrive on Tuesday (April 27).

A total of nine airline container loads of supplies will be sent to India this week.

The number of cases in India surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the fourth straight day of record peaks. Hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of medical oxygen and beds.

The total tally of infections in India stands at 16.96 million, with 192,311 deaths.

Asked whether the UK would be sending vaccines as well, Raab said it "is not really being a part of the discussion."

Delhi residents grappled with fear and anxiety as shortages of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital staff compounded a record number of new coronavirus infections on Wedneday.

India's toll from COVID-19 surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, the country's deadliest day.

The second wave of infections has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week, overwhelming healthcare facilities and crematoriums and fueling an increasingly urgent international response.

On the uncharacteristically quieter streets of New Delhi due to a lockdown, residents expressed frustration and fear of the rapidly rising infection numbers and uncertainty ahead.

"The situation is horrific, absolutely terrible, according to what I see. Everyone is afraid, every single person. People are afraid that if I am talking to a person, maybe I won't get to talk to them tomorrow or in the near future.

The death toll is 200,000 today, it can go up to 400,000 or even a million. Everyone is terrified right now across the country, the environment is of fear. We are Delhi residents and it is pathetic over here," Delhi resident Manoj Garg said.

The last 24 hours brought 360,960 new cases for the world's largest single-day total, taking India's tally of infections to nearly 18 million. It was also the deadliest day so far, with 3,293 fatalities carrying the toll to 201,187.

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