As Covid-19 worsens in India, Amazon helps fly in medical equipment

As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India gets worse, many top companies are stepping in to help in reaching medicines and medical equipment to places where they are in short supply.

For instance, Amazon, along with a few other industry partners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will help in bringing 8000 oxygen concentrators and BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) machines to India.

Amazon, in partnership with ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation and Pune Platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR), is airlift over 8,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore.

The medical equipment will be donated to hospitals and public institutions to augment their capacity to help Covid-19 infected patients across multiple cities.

Consignments land in Mumbai

The medical equipment that Amazon India is helping to fly into India. (Image credit: Amazon India)

Amazon is shouldering the cost of airlifting the oxygen concentrators and BiPAP machines, procured through multiple funders including ACT Grants and PPCR from Singapore to India, through Air India and other international carriers.

Amazon will manage the movement of these oxygen concentrators and other donations from the local airport to identified hospitals and institutions. The first of these consignments landed in Mumbai yesterday (April 25) and a majority of the shipping is expected to be completed by April 30.

“We stand firmly with the country, deploying our global logistics network to urgently airlift the needed oxygen concentrators to support the nation’s immediate need,” said Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country head, Amazon India in a company blog post.

“We continue to explore other meaningful ways to help in saving lives and are committed to support the nation in this time of crisis,” he added.

Further, Amazon India is procuring over 1,500 oxygen concentrators and other critical medical equipment. This will be donated to hospitals and medical facilities in partnership with multiple non-profit organisations.