Britain providing ventilators and expertise as India death toll soars

Britain is rushing to dispatch a further 1,000 ventilators to India to help its struggling healthcare system deal with a surge in coronavirus infections which is killing thousands every day.

Boris Johnson promised “the UK will always be there for India” as he committed fresh assistance including advice from NHS staff and Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance.

The prime minister made the pledge ahead of a call with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi tomorrow, arranged to replace a cancelled visit to New Delhi.

The 1,000 ventilators from the UK’s surplus supply are in addition to 200 sent last week, in shipments that have included nearly 500 oxygen concentrators.

Prof Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, and Sir Patrick, the chief scientific adviser, have spoken to their Indian counterparts to share the expertise they have gained.

India has recorded more than 390,000 new infections and 3,600 deaths over the past 24-hour period, raising the overall death toll to more than 215,500.

A New Delhi court has said it will start punishing government officials for failing to deliver lifesaving oxygen as hospitals continue to struggle to secure steady supplies.

The government has been using the railways, the air force and the navy to rush oxygen tankers to worst-hit areas with overwhelmed hospitals.

India is also in dire need of vaccines despite it being the world’s largest manufacturer of jabs.

An Indian village declared a ‘micro containment zone’.