The British government is sending urgent shipments of medical equipment to India as a huge Covid wave overwhelms the country’s health services.
More than 600 items including ventilators and oxygen concentration devices are being sent via nine cargo flights, with the first shipment leaving late on Sunday and arriving on Tuesday.
Describing the unfolding scenes in India as “heart-breaking”, health secretary Matt Hancock said the government was “determined to support the people of India through this very difficult time”.
“This first delivery of life saving equipment will provide much needed assistance and we stand ready to do more,” he said.
“The global pandemic has challenged health systems all across the world and the best way to overcome adversity is to unite and defeat this dreadful disease together.”
For the fourth day in a row India set a world record for the number of new coronavirus infections, with 349,691 more infections and another 2,767 lives lost in the 24 hours to Sunday morning.
The surge in cases is such that there is now not enough oxygen to treat every patient, with distressing scenes unfolding in some cities of people being treated in the streets and oxygen tankers with police escorts.
The supplies to be flown in form the UK include 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators.
Boris Johnson, who last week cancelled a trip to India because of the unfolding crisis, said the UK would stand “side-by-side with India as a friend and partner”.
He added: “We will continue to work closely with the Indian government during this difficult time and I’m determined to make sure that the UK does everything it can to support the international community in the global fight against pandemic.”
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed the UK would be “following up on this first delivery with further support, based on our ongoing discussions with the Indian Government”.
World news in pictures
Show all 50
1 /50World news in pictures
World news in pictures
24 April 2021
Fans of Wuhan Three Towns FC cheer for their team during the 1st round match Wuhan Three Towns FC and Beijing Institute of Technology FC during Chinese Football League One in Wuhan, China
Getty
World news in pictures
23 April 2021
A girl prays in front of the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City, on the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions ease around the country, in Jerusalem
Reuters
World news in pictures
22 April 2021
People walk through the art work ‘THE SPIRITS OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS’ by Yayoi Kusama, during the press preview of a retrospective exhibition of the Japanese artist at the Martin Gropius Bau museum in Berlin, Germany
AP
World news in pictures
21 April 2021
Hungary’s Sara Peter competes in the Women’s floor qualifications during European Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the St Jakobshalle, in Basel
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
20 April 2021
South Korea university students gets their heads shaved during a protest against Japan’s decision to release contaminated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, in front of the Japanese embassy, in Seoul
Reuters
World news in pictures
19 April 2021
A spectator wearing a football jersey of Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi attends the ATP Barcelona Open tennis tournament singles match between Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Argentina’s Guido Pella at the Real Club de Tenis in Barcelona
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
18 April 2021
People raise their fist during a demonstration near the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
17 April 2021
Security personnel stand guard outside a polling station during the 5th phase of West Bengal’s state legislative assembly elections in Kolkata
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures
16 April 2021
Palestinians take part in the first Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site, in Jerusalem’s Old City
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
15 April 2021
A firefighter inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq
Reuters
World news in pictures
14 April 2021
This picture shows the 100 days countdown till the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games displayed on the illuminated Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo on April 14, 2021
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
13 April 2021
This photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source shows Buddhist monks gesturing while taking part in a demonstration with protesters against the military coup in Mandalay during the Myanmar New Year festival of Thingyan
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
12 April 2021
An Indian holi man during the Kumbh Mela royal bath (Sacred Hindu Pilgrimage) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. Thousands of pilgrims are gathering and taking holy dip in Kumbh Mela that is a mass Hindu pilgrimage which occurs after every twelve years and rotates among four locations
EPA
World news in pictures
11 April 2021
Nasa released images of of sand dunes on Mars captured using ‘infrared reflections’
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)
World news in pictures
10 April 2021
People watch devotees pulling a chariot in Biska Jatra Festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal
AP
World news in pictures
9 April 2021
Maintenance workers clean the monument of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Moscow on April 9, 2021. – Sixty years ago Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, marking it a new chapter in the history of space exploration.
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
8 April 2021
Protesters hold a banner and burning red flares during a demonstration of called by unions of healthcare and social workers in support of their sector and to demand a bonus in their pay in Paris
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
7 April 2021
Protesters laying on the street near the Election Commission office in Kolkata during a demonstration demanding the halt of the ongoing state legislative election and campaign rallies amidst the rising number of Covid-19 cases
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
6 April 2021
Voters stand in queue to cast their votes at a polling booth during third phase of West Bengal state elections in Baruipur, South 24 Pargana district, India
AP
World news in pictures
5 April 2021
The Statue of Christ appears behind clouds from the Sao Jorge Castle in Lisbon as the Portuguese government eased coronavirus restrictions
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
4 April 2021
Christian worshippers light candles during an Easter service in Yerevan, the Armenian capital
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
3 April 2021
Anti-coup protesters hold improvised weapons during a protest in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar’s military Junta continued a brutal crackdown on a nationwide civil disobedience movement in which thousands of people have turned out in continued defiance of live ammunition
Getty
World news in pictures
2 April 2021
A rescue works at the site after a train derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan
Reuters
World news in pictures
1 April 2021
Man flashes three-finger salute next to burning tires during a protest against the military c
REUTERS
World news in pictures
31 March 2021
Mannequins wrapped in barrier tape stand in front of Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate as part of German artist Dennis Josef Meseg’s Corona Memorial called “It is Like it is”
AFP via Getty
World news in pictures
30 March 2021
A ship heads down the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt
EPA
World news in pictures
29 March 2021
Flocks of flamingos are pictured in a pond in Navi Mumbai
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
28 March 2021
Anti-coup protesters use slingshots and pelt stones towards approaching security forces on March 28, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar’s military Junta continued a brutal crackdown on a nationwide civil disobedience movement in which thousands of people have turned out in continued defiance of live ammunition.
Getty
World news in pictures
27 March 2021
The mother of Aung Zay Min, 20, who was shot and killed in the night by security forces, mourns over his body at his funeral in Dala township in Yangon, Myanmar
Getty
World news in pictures
26 March 2021
Farmers play cricket on a deserted highway road during a 12-hour strike, as part of protests against farm laws, at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghaziabad, India
Reuters
World news in pictures
25 March 2021
China Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2021 collection show in Beijing
Reuters
World news in pictures
24 March 2021
A man rows a boat against the setting sun at the Dal Lake after a downpour in Srinagar
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
23 March 2021
Hindu devotees dance as colored powder is thrown at them at Ladali, or Radha temple, at the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, during Lathmar holi, in Barsana, India
AP
World news in pictures
22 March 2021
Campaign for Uyghurs Executive Director Rushan Abbas holds a photo of her sister, Gulshan Abbas who is currently imprisoned in a camp during a rally in New York
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
21 March 2021
Damage at a hospital after a government bombing in the rebel-held town of Atareb in northwestern Syria
Reuters
World news in pictures
20 March 2021
A helicopter flies close to a volcanic eruption which has begun in Fagradalsfjall, Iceland
Getty Images
World news in pictures
19 March 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden stumbles on steps departs on travel to Atlanta, Georgia at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland
REUTERS
World news in pictures
18 March 2021
A sculpture by artist Jacques Tilly with the slogan ’11 years of relentless investigation of the abuse cases!’ is seen in front of the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, western Germany, on March 18, 2021, as a long-awaited report was published on sexual violence allegedly committed by clergy and laymen in Germany’s top diocese. – The independent study on the Cologne diocese commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church found 202 alleged perpetrators of sexual assault and 314 victims between 1975 and 2018
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
17 March 2021
The stupa of the Buddhist temple Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) is illuminated in green to mark St. Patrick’s Day in Bangkok
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
16 March 2021
Women stand next to hijabs for sale at Tanah Abang textile market in Jakarta, Indonesia
Reuters
World news in pictures
15 March 2021
An employee works on a head of a humanoid robot developed by Promobot service robotics manufacturer at the company’s branch in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Russia
REUTERS
World news in pictures
14 March 2021
EPA
World news in pictures
13 March 2021
An injured demonstrator is carried during a protest against the military coup, in Mandalay, Myanmar
EPA
World news in pictures
12 March 2021
People look at polar bears inside an enclosure at a newly-opened hotel, which allows guests views of the animals – listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – from rooms on the premises in Harbin, northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures
11 March 2021
A Sadhu, Hindu holy person, prepares himself by smearing ashes on his body during the Maha Shivaratri festival at the Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal
EPA
World news in pictures
10 March 2021
People taking cover behind vehicles watch as soldiers and riot policemen walk on the street in Mandalay, Myanmar
AP
World news in pictures
9 March 2021
A woman over 80-years-old receives a vaccine against COVID-19 at the El Tunal coliseum in Bogota, Colombia
EPA
World news in pictures
8 March 2021
Members of women’s group Gabriela display placards near the presidential palace during a protest on International Women’s Day in Manila
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures
7 March 2021
British-Iranian aid worker, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, poses for a photo after she was released from house arrest in Tehran
Zaghari family via Reuters
World news in pictures
6 March 2021
Pope Francis, right, meets with Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq
AP
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy called on the government to go further and send India surplus Covid-19 vaccine doses and therapeutic drugs, as well as sharing UK exercise in genome sequencing to help track the outbreak.
“Defeating this virus anywhere means defeating it everywhere,” she said.
“We have seen how quickly COVID-19 variants that have been identified in one country are able to spread rapidly across the globe.
“The UK can offer expertise and capacity in crucial areas like genome sequencing and epidemiology that have already proven vital in mapping and restricting the spread of coronavirus. It is vital, not only for protecting the lives of millions in the subcontinent, but also in limiting the spread of potentially vaccine-resilient variants to our own shores.