EU gears up to "respond rapidly" to India's COVID-19 situation

VCG

The European Union (EU) is gearing up to "respond rapidly" to India's worrying COVID-19 situation, which has made it the current epicenter of the pandemic, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday.

"Alarmed by the epidemiological situation in India. We are ready to support," she said on Twitter. "The EU is pooling resources to respond rapidly to India's request for assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. We stand in full solidarity with the Indian people!"

The Asian country's daily virus-related deaths surpassed a record 2,600 on April 24 as the government battles to get oxygen supplies to hospitals.

Reports indicate that the country doesn't have enough crematoriums, and new ones are being built to cope with the increase in fatalities.

Its 16,960,172 infections are the second-highest globally, only shadowed by the tally recorded by the United States. On the other hand, its 192,311 COVID-19 fatalities are the fourth-highest recorded in the world.

Earlier, the U.K. government also said it would send more than 600 medical equipment including oxygen concentrators and ventilators to India to boost its COVID-19 response.