Covid-19: India dispatches rapid response team to Kuwait

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) An Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft with a coronavirus rapid response team comprising medical personnel and equipment flew to Kuwait for assistance in the fight against Covid-19, a senior IAF officer said on Saturday.

“IAF aircraft C-130 airlifted a Corona warrior team for assistance to State of Kuwait today. Team India extending full support to friendly foreign nations,” the senior IAF officer said.

The officer further added that the rapid response team comprising 15 doctors and technicians was sent to Kuwait on Saturday morning for capacity building.

Another rapid response team is ready to be dispatched to Nepal for assisting them with the present Covid-19 situation there, Lieutenant General Anup Banerji, DG Armed Forces Medical Services, said.

Banerji had stated last week, “Assistance as sought from MEA/MoD for other countries will be provided as and when required for building up the infrastructural capacity and expert manpower to friendly foreign countries.”

On April 2, IAF had airlifted 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines and hospital consumables on an IAF C-130 aircraft from India to Maldives through Operation Sanjeevani.

Earlier, India had sent 5.5 tonnes of essential medicines to the Maldives on March 14. India had also sent a 14-member Covid-19 rapid response team of doctors and specialists to enhance preparedness. The team worked closely with the health authorities in Male and outlying islands.

The Maldives was the first country in India’s neighborhood to have received essential medicines since the lockdown commenced in India.

Airlifting of essential medicines signals India’s commitment to keep supplies of essential medicines open even in the most challenging times as the South Asian region combats the Covid-19 pandemic.

–IANS

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