An Air Force C-5M loaded with COVID-19 relief supplies left Travis Air Force Base, California, on April 28 for New Delhi, India, as that country struggles with a large outbreak of the virus that has stressed its health care system.
The C-5M, from the 60th Air Mobility Wing, carried oxygen cylinders with regulators, N95 masks, and rapid testing kits to Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to U.S. Transportation Command. The flight is the first of “several large shipments” of supplies from the state of California and the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAF C5-M Super Galaxies will transport 440 oxygen cylinders and regulators, one million N95 masks, and one million COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kits.
“Just as India came to our aid early in the pandemic, the U.S. is committed to working urgently to provide assistance to India in its time of need,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Twitter.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said on Twitter an Air Force C-17 was also carrying supplies to the country.
USAID has provided more than $23 million in assistance to India and is procuring a total of 1,000 medical oxygen concentrators to be used in 320 health care facilities, according to a press release.