Heartwarming to see Israelis helping save lives in India amid COVID: Envoy Ron Malka

After Israel announced that it will send additional help to India to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Ambassador Ron Malka on Sunday remarked that it was "heartwarming" that Israelis are searching for any life-saving equipment that can be helpful in saving lives in India.

In an interview with ANI, Malka informed that the Middle Eastern country will send thousands of oxygen generators for hospitals, oxygen concentrators of different kinds, respirators and other life-saving equipment to India.

"It is really heartwarming to see Israelis all over searching wherever they can everywhere else to see if there is any equipment that can be useful in saving lives in India. This is what the special task team has been doing, we are collecting and sending it as soon as we can," he said.

Sending his love, affection and best wishes to the people of India, he said: "First and foremost, follow the guidelines. Do whatever you can do to avoid infection until you reach the scale of vaccination. Please be responsible for yourselves and your families. Be patient and do not take any unnecessary risks."

Amid a drop in COVID-19 infection rates in Israel, the country's Health Ministry last month cancelled the mandatory wearing of face masks in the open air. Speaking on the mask-free situation in Israel, the Ambassador said that this was possible due to a massive vaccination programme.

"But of course, in India, it is not of the same scale or the same complexity, so we understand that implementing this strategy will take time and what we are going to do is provide as much treatment as we can," he added.

Malka also said that the virus was very surprising and 'misleading' and that no one could have known about the coming waves of the pandemic.

"Even now, everything is opening in Israel. We are still concerned and we are looking and searching to see if there are no more surprises," the envoy said, while exuding confidence that India will soon overcome the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

"We are sending teams of experts to India. For example, we are going to send a team for rapid testing, and a team to develop very easy producing oxygen concentrators. India has remarkable manufacturing capabilities," Malka had announced.

He further said that Israel will never forget the remarkable assistance we got from India at the beginning of this pandemic.

"India and Israel share strong values of friendship. We are sharing practices, expertise, IPs whatever we can.. this is a life-saving time," the envoy said.

India is currently dealing with a devastating second COVID-19 wave that has swept through the nation, straining the country's health infrastructure and overburdening frontline medical workers. The country has been reporting over four lakh infections for the past few days.

Several countries around the globe including UK, Russia, and the US have extended support as India continues to struggle with the increase in its health infrastructure needs caused by the rising COVID-19 infections.

( With inputs from ANI )