Estonia is allocating €75,000 to India to help the country contain the severe new coronavirus wave it’s experiencing.
“The situation is concerning because the rapid increase of infections has put the health-care system of the country under enormous pressure. Hospitals are lacking staff, beds, medicines and oxygen,” Estonia’s foreign minister, Eva-Maria Liimets, said in a statement.
The minister said “it is important to help those in need”. “India is an important partner for Estonia, and this year, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations,” Liimets said.
Estonia is providing financial support for India via the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Estonia opened its embassy in the Indian capital, New Delhi, in 2013. In December 2020, India announced it will open its embassy in Tallinn soon – to help the country expand its diplomatic footprint and deepen political relations.
According to the BBC, India’s surge in COVID-19 infections began around mid-March and increased rapidly. On 5 May, the number of new recorded daily infections reached a new high of more than 412,000. There have been over 21 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in India, according to its ministry of health and welfare – and as of 6 May, over 230,000 people have died.
Cover: A street scene in Chennai, India. The image is illustrative. Photo by V Srinivasan on Unsplash.
