True: India received emergency COVID-19 relief shipments from the U.S.

By: Ranjini K
May 1 2021

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Biden administration sent emergency COVID-19 relief assistance to India to fight the second wave of COVID-19. The first shipment has reached India.On April 30, 2021, India received its first emergency COVID-19 assistance materials from the United States. California sent 440 oxygen cylinders and regulators in the first consignment, while the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID) provided 960,000 rapid diagnostic tests and 100,000 N95 masks. On Twitter, the U.S. Embassy India stated that over 70 years of cooperation between India and the United States makes them stand together in the fight against COVID-19. On April 26, President Biden had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spoke about his commitment to support India in its difficult times of pandemic. Modi expressed his appreciation for the cooperation between both countries. Since the pandemic, ten million Indians received the direct assistance of over $23 million from USAID, reports the agency. India has faced many health challenges with the close partnership of USAID for over a decade. Naming a few of them are maternal and child mortality, polio, HIV, and tuberculosis. "Just as India sent assistance to the United States when our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need," the White House said in a statement earlier reports Hindustan Times. State secretary Antony Blinken via Twitter said that as India had sent its aid to the U.S. during the early pandemic, they were also committed to assisting India. The U.S. state governments, private companies, non-governmental organizations are willing to deliver oxygen-related equipment to the Indian hospitals, says Ned Price, a state department spokesperson, reports Hindustan Times. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.