PM Imran expresses solidarity with people of India as Covid-19 surges

In these difficult times our prayers are with the people of India, says information minister

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressed solidarity with the people of India as the country's eastern neighbour reeled under a devastating Covid-19 second wave.

The premier said the country's prayers are with all those suffering from the deadly virus and for their early recovery in "our neighbourhood and the world".

I want to express our solidarity with the people of India as they battle a dangerous wave of COVID-19. Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood & the world. We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 24, 2021

He added that all countries must fight the global health crisis together as confronts humanity as a whole.

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has also expressed concern over the Covid-19 situation across the border.

“In these difficult times our prayers are with people of India may God be kind and may these difficult times get over soon,” the information minister wrote on his official Twitter handle.

Read: Faisal Edhi offers help to India as country reels from devastating Covid-19 surge

In these difficult times our prayers are with people of #India may God be kind and may these difficult times gets over soon. #coronavirus

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 24, 2021

India reported the world's highest daily tally of coronavirus infections for a third day on Saturday, surpassing 346,786 new cases, as it struggles with a health system overwhelmed by patients and plagued by accidents.

In response, people are bypassing the conventional lines of communication and turning to Twitter to crowdsource help for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, and other requirements.

Pakistani citizens also rallied for their neighbours and called on PM Imran to alleviate the situation in India.

On Friday, Faisal Edhi, son of celebrated philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the foundation also offered help to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Edhi Foundation Pakistan writes to Indian PM @narendramodi offering humanitarian assistance of 50 fully equipped ambulances along with staff as India’s health services capacity chokes due to rising COVID-19 cases.#IndiaNeedsOxygen #IndianLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/cdztmNODmd

— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) April 23, 2021

The situation continues to get worse in India as deaths in the past 24 hours also jumped to a record 2,624 to reach a total of 189,544, the health ministry said, while officials across northern and western India, including the capital, New Delhi, warn most hospitals are full and running out of oxygen.

People across India scrambled for life-saving oxygen supplies on Friday and patients lay dying outside hospitals as the capital recorded the equivalent of one death from Covid-19 every five minutes.

Read more: Pakistani Twitter rallies for India as Covid-19 situation becomes worse

India's second wave has hit with such ferocity that hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds and anti-viral drugs. Many patients have been turned away because there was no space for them, doctors in Delhi said.

Ambulance sirens sounded throughout the day in the deserted streets of the capital, one of India's worst hit cities, where a lockdown is in place to try and stem the transmission of the virus.