China 'willing' to help virus-ravaged India

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – China has said it is willing to help India amid a devastating COVID-19 surge that saw the South Asian country post the world’s highest single-day case count on Thursday.

“China is willing to provide assistance to India against the latest COVID-19 rebound in the country, which has caused temporary shortage of medical materials,” Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Beijing, according to local daily Global Times.

India reported a staggering 314,835 new infections and 2,104 more deaths on Thursday, taking its overall count past 15.9 million, including more than 184,650 fatalities.

The country of 1.3 billion people is witnessing an exponential surge in infections, with daily figures having been over 200,000 since April 15.

Hospitals across India are overwhelmed as critical supplies of oxygen and drugs are running dangerously low.

- New cases in China

China reported six imported COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

The total number of cases in the country since December 2019 now stands at 90,547, including 4,636 deaths, according to the National Health Commission.