New Delhi (Sputnik): India has ordered 15 million personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, and 1.5 million rapid testing kits from China. However, the delivery of these kits was delayed for a week due to the shortage of cargo flights.
The much-awaited first batch of Chinese kits arrived in India on Thursday and is expected to expedite the testing of COVID-19 in a country with 1.3 billion inhabitants.
Government sources in New Delhi said that a flight with rapid antibody testing kits (the first lot of 300,000 from Guangzhou Wondfo and 250,000 from Zhuhai Livzon) and RNA extraction kits (100,000 from MGI Shenzhen), left on Thursday morning after Chinese customs cleared them late on Wednesday.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing and Consulate in Guangzhou played a key role in supplying these kits, the sources said.
Another official from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed that the kits have already reached India.
China has tightened regulations on exporting such equipment following criticism from several European countries over the quality of exports.
Earlier this week, India’s Ambassador to China Vikram Misri had said that the Indian government was in the process of, or had already completed, contracts for 15 million personal protective equipment kits, consisting of gowns, masks, gloves, goggles, etc.
The Chinese delivery was scheduled to arrive on 8 April but due to shortages of cargo flights it was delayed for a week. The delay in deliveries of these kits has, in turn, delayed testing.
According to the ICMR, 258,730 individuals have been tested as of 15 April. The Indian Health Ministry reports a total 12,380 COVID-19 positive cases with 941 new cases in 24 hours.
The death toll in the country has reached to 414, with 37 deaths in last 24 hours.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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