An Italian plane landed in India on Monday with life-saving oxygen production equipment and a team of specialists on board as COVID-19 cases in the Asian country neared 20 million with some 219,000 deaths recorded.
"Landed! Italy team delivers oxygen production machine capable of supplying an entire hospital and 20 ventilators,"" the Italian embassy tweeted.
India's hospitals are facing dire shortages of beds and medical oxygen as daily cases in India have topped 300,000 for ten straight days and scientists predict the pandemic could peak in the next few days.
At least 3.4 million people in India are currently being treated for Coronavirus but the true numbers could be five to 10 times higher, medical experts say.
Italy's premier Mario Draghi has vowed to help India with its dramatic COVID-19 emergency. "I wish to express my closeness to the Indian people for the suffering caused by the pandemic's new surge," he said in a statement last week.
Italy is making available to India an oxygen production system developed by the norther Piedmont region that can be used in regular and in field hospitals, the statement added.
