Washington, May 5 (PTI) A US health company on Wednesday announced a donation of USD 1 million towards purchase of 2,500 oxygen concentrators to address urgent need for essential medical equipment in India.

This is in an addition to USD 1.5 million that Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group has already announced for India, which is experiencing an unprecedented public health emergency with record-breaking surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

“Since the onset of COVID-19, UnitedHealth Group has been committed to combating the pandemic's impact on the communities where we live and work, while providing resources and support to ensure the safety and well-being of our team members,” said Laura Ciavola, president of Optum Global Advantage, a UnitedHealth Group business.

“This additional contribution will provide much needed relief with core medical equipment and supplies to help India's health care professionals combat the devastating impact of COVID-19,” she said in a statement.

UnitedHealth said the latest contribution of USD 1 million will fund the procurement of 2,500 oxygen concentrators to help address India's nationwide shortage of oxygen as well as other critical medical equipment essential for treating severe COVID-19 infections.

The grant will be made through the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and its affiliate foundation, the US-India Friendship Alliance. The oxygen concentrators will be delivered to Nitiaayog, to ensure they are deployed to state hospitals where the need is significant, it said.

India is struggling with an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past one week.

UnitedHealth Group's relief efforts in India have helped deploy health and safety kits and COVID-19 testing supplies; support for Optum team members based in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Noida.

The company has also expanded access to telehealth so that its teammates can receive more immediate and convenient medical consultation.

According to Indian health ministry data on Wednesday, a record 3,780 fresh COVID-19 fatalities were registered in a single day in India, taking the death toll to 2,26,188, while 3,82,315 new coronavirus infections were recorded. With the fresh cases, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 2,06,65,148.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)