The Welsh Government has announced that medical equipment will besent from Wales to support the international emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic in India.

The Government and NHS Wales will provide around 600 oxygen concentrators and more than 300 ventilators which are due to leave for India in the coming days, with flights being arranged by the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: “Covid-19 is a global threat and as such it is right that we are part of the global response, supporting other nations.

“We have worked closely with the UK Government and the Government of India on the logistics in arranging for these supplies to be transported to India and distributed to the hospitals where they are needed most.”

Health minister Vaughan Gething and chair of the Wales branch of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) - Professor Keshav Singhal, visited the NHS Wales national distribution centre today to inspect the supplies.

As of May 4, more than 20 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported in India, with a rolling average of 378,000 cases a day, and the total number of deaths at 222,000 - and rising. Experts believe this figure is likely to be a substantial underestimate.