Despite reported shortfalls of necessary items for medical professionals, India exported a major consignment to Serbia during the weekend.
Kochi| According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Serbia procured nearly 90 tonnes of “medical protective equipment” from suppliers located in different parts of India.
“The transportation of valuable supplies purchased by the Serbian government has been fully funded by the European Union while the UNDP, Serbia organised the flight and ensured the fastest possible delivery,” UNDP in Serbia declared in a social media message.
The 2nd cargo Boeing 747 with 90t of medical protective equipment landed from India to Belgrade today. The transportation of valuable supplies purchased by @SerbianGov has been fully funded by the #EU while @UNDPSerbia organized the flight & ensured the fastest possible delivery. pic.twitter.com/pMZqV7dwTg
— UNDP in Serbia (@UNDPSerbia) March 29, 2020
The 90-ton consignment included 50 tons of surgical gloves. Besides, there were masks and coveralls, which medical workers direly need.
The spokesperson of Kochi airport said another consignment was sent on March 29, which included 35 lakh pairs of a sterile surgical glove.
The 30-ton consignment was sent to Belgrade on a Transaviaexport Airlines cargo freighter. The Cochin Customs had facilitated the clearance and tweeted about it.
The tweet read: “Cochin customs in action to clear a consignment of 35 lakhs pairs of sterile latex surgical gloves to Serbia to support the global war against #COVID2019 ”
Nearly 100 doctors have been quarantined across the country after they came in contact with coronavirus patients while working without any protective gear. Several have even contracted the virus.
In Lucknow, authorities of the prestigious King George’s Medical University, the hub of treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Uttar Pradesh, turned down the OPD doctors’ request for specialised protective equipment a week after a resident doctor contracted the disease.
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There have been reports that doctors in some corners of the country have been using raincoats and motorbike helmets.
On Monday, the association of ambulance employees in Uttar Pradesh said they were stopping work over non-payment of salaries for two months and lack of protective gear despite being on the front-line in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, the Centre said it was trying to procure bulk quantities of such gear, called personal protective equipment (PPE), domestically and from South Korea and China to meet the shortages.
“We have not exported anything from the prohibited list. However, items on the ‘restricted list’ can be sent in a case to case basis depending on the government policies, decisions, prior commitments after assessing info about availability, storage, prod capacity, and anticipated demand,” India Today reported.
According to the commerce ministry’s amendment in export policy, dated March 9, 2020, masks, ventilators, the textile raw material for masks and coveralls, fall in the ‘prohibited’ category of items and cannot be exported.
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