Harrogate family launch 'Help India Breathe' covid fundraiser
Hospitals across India are pleading for oxygen and generators as thousands of civilians die from the virus each day.
Last updated 12th May 2021
A family in Harrogate have launched a fundraiser alongside The British Asian Trust to help the covid effort in India as hospitals face a shortage of oxygen.
Kate Banerjee and her husband are hoping to raise £8000 to buy oxygen generators which can be sent out to smaller villages, so people suffering with the virus don’t have to travel to the larger cities which could increase the risk of spreading covid.
She said: "It's very sad and very worrying in India and we are seeing are such devastating sights in the press. It's the volume of people who are ill and who are struggling for medical care that's the worry.
"It must be awful and the hospital are under so much pressure and they must not know where to turn.
"These generators take the oxygen from the air and they create it so it's sustainable and it'll reach more people. The plan is that these go to the villages so people can have the oxygen there so they're not all travelling to the populated cities.
"The situation out there at the moment is awful and I don't think it's going to reach its peak yet. It's going to get worse before it gets better.
"We set up the fundraiser because a lot of our friends wanted to help but didn't know how so this gives people locally the opportunity to help.
"We're slowly getting through it, cases are decreasing, so we need to help others."
Doctors in India are pleading for tanks and generators to help treat patients, as thousands of people die from the virus every day.
It costs £830 for a high flow oxygen concentrator which will support up to 550 of the most seriously ill patients where as a low flow concentrator costs £450.
£50 will provide oxygen for 40 patients who are struggling to breathe.
The family's fundraiser passed the £6000-mark earlier this week.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
Official figures show that since the start of the pandemic, India have recorded 23.3 million cases of coronavirus and 254,000 deaths.
Last week the country recorded over 400,000 new cases in just one day.
Over five million cases have been recorded in the last week and there were nearly 4,000 deaths yesterday.