‘Heartbreaking’: Greta Thunberg urges global help for India amid Covid-19 crisis

New Delhi, Apr 24: Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Saturday said the ongoing coronavirus crisis in India is "heartbreaking" and urged the global community to come forward and help the country tackle the rapid second wave of the coronavirus infections.

"Heartbreaking to follow the recent developments in India. The global community must step up and immediately offer the assistance needed," she tweeted.

The Swedish activist also shared a news report about India's ongoing health crisis as the country reports over 3 lakh cases every day.

Hospitals in Delhi, several stateshave been facing an acute short age of medical oxygen to treat Covid-19 patients.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the government exempted basic customs duty on import of Covid-19 vaccine, medical-grade oxygen and related equipment to boost domestic availability and make them cheaper amid rising infections across the country.

The decision to exempt customs duty was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost oxygen availability in the country.

With over 3.46 lakh daily new infections, the caseload has crossed 1.66 crore. India's deaths from Covid-19 rose by a record 2,624 to over 1.89 lakh.

To meet demand of medical oxygen, the government has taken some measures including roping in the Air Force to bring in cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore.

It is also transporting oxygen tanks in the country using the Railways to reduce travel time.