As Pune battles the second wave of Covid-19 infections, with the Pune Platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR) has arranged for the procurement of 250 ventilators and 4,000 oxygen concentrators from Singapore to India under “Mission Vayu”.
Sudhir Mehta, president of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), said these would be distributed to hospitals with high concentration of patients.
The equipment will be donated to hospitals and institutions free of cost in the worst coronavirus-affected areas in India. The first consignment is expected to arrive in India from Singapore on April 25.
Mehta said they decided to step in after the demand for oxygen and ventilators skyrocketed. The PPCR arranged for procurement and donation of 250 BiPaPs and 4,000 oxygen concentrators. This, he said, was one of the largest industry-led initiatives to support the healthcare infrastructure. These machines would be distributed to the worst affected areas and hotspots in the country.
Christened Mission Vayu, this mission is supported by Amazon as logistics partners, which would handle the entire operation. “The first flight would land in Pune and the whole lot would arrive in the next two-three days,” he said.
We are one of the very few platforms, jointly supported by the government, industries, NGOs and medical fraternity. In the past two days, the PPCR raised Rs 10-12 crore to set up 12 oxygen generator plants that are being set up at multiple government and private hospitals. With a combined capacity of generating 12 tonnes of oxygen a day, these plants will help save thousands of lives in the coming days,” Mehta said.
