India dispatches oxygen containers to help Bangladesh as covid cases surge
Premium- Bangladesh has registered more than 1.1 million cases of covid-19 with more than 18,000 dead
NEW DELHI: India is dispatching 10 containers of liquid medical oxygen to Bangladesh via a train dubbed "Oxygen Express," two officials said on Saturday as Bangladesh battles a surge in covid-19 infections.
The train has left from Tatanagar in Jamshedpur and is carrying 200 tonnes of oxygen, said one of the two officials cited above.
Bangladesh has registered more than 1.1 million cases of covid-19 with more than 18,000 dead, as per the news reports.
The country's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 11,578 new covid-19 cases and 225 more deaths, taking the tally at 1,103,989 and the death toll at 17,894. The total number of recovered patients in the country stood at 932,008 including 8,845 new recoveries.
Most of the infections have been caused by the delta variant of the novel coronavirus.
The Bangladesh government lifted a strict lockdown this week for seven days to allow millions of people to head back to their villages for the second-largest religious festival Eid in the country.
Despite a tough lockdown since 1 July, the surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in recent weeks shows little sign of abating.
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