KABUL - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his First Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Monday sent messages of support to the Indian government and its people as the country battles a COVID-19 ‘tsunami’.
Infections spiked in India in the past 24 hours to another record high of 352,991 new cases.
Ghani tweeted Monday: “Our hearts go out to the Indian people & government as they fight the horrendous outbreak of COVID. On behalf of the Afghan people & government, we send our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones & wish a quick recovery to those who are suffering from the virus”
First VP Amrullah Saleh also sent a message of support and tweeted: “Our thoughts & prayers are with India, a true friend & ally of Afghanistan as it passes through difficult times combating deadly COVID-19. Wishing all Indian people more resilience & fast victory over the pandemic.”
This comes after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution. He said on Sunday the “storm” of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of COVID-19 infections in a day.
The United States said it will immediately provide raw materials for one of the COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to help India respond. France, Britain and Germany also promised rapid support.
“We were confident, our spirits were up after successfully tackling the first wave, but this storm has shaken the nation,” Modi said in a radio address.
His government has faced criticism that it let its guard down earlier this year, allowed big religious and political gatherings to take place when India’s cases fell to below 10,000 a day and did not plan for boosted healthcare systems.
Hospitals and doctors have put out urgent notices saying they are unable to cope with the rush of patients.
Outside a Sikh temple in Ghaziabad city on the outskirts of Delhi, the street resembled an emergency ward of a hospital, but crammed with cars carrying COVID-19 patients gasping for breath as they were hooked up to hand held oxygen tanks.
Elsewhere, people were arranging stretchers and oxygen cylinders outside hospitals as they desperately pleaded for authorities to take patients in, Reuters photographers said.

“Every day, it is the same situation, we are left with two hours of oxygen, we only get assurances from the authorities,” one doctor said on television. (ATN)