US racing to send aid to India as Covid-19 cases soar

A health worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carries a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outside the casualty ward at Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, in New Delhi, India

The United States is deeply concerned by a massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and will race additional support to the Indian government and health care workers, a White House spokeswoman said on Saturday. "We are in active conversations at high levels and plan to quickly deploy additional support to the Government of India and Indian health care workers as they battle this latest severe outbreak. We will have more to share very soon," the spokeswoman told Reuters via email. Washington is under increasing pressure to do more to help India, the world's largest democracy and a strategic ally in President Joe Biden's efforts to counter China, as it grapples with a record-setting surge in coronavirus infections. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday called on the Biden administration to release millions of stored doses of AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccine for shipment to India, Brazil and other hard hit countries.