– These are heartbreaking pictures we see from India, and I can confirm that the relevant Danish health authorities are currently investigating whether and how we can help India, says Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod (S) in a written comment.
The EU announced over the weekend that oxygen supplies and other medical equipment are being collected for India.
In recent days, India has daily registered over 300,000 new cases of infection. However, it must be seen in the light of the fact that India has about 1.4 billion inhabitants.
When you take into account the large differences in population sizes and look at the number of cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants, the infection in India is twice as high as in Denmark, but about half of Sweden and France.
It shows a statement from Our World in Data, which researchers from Oxford University are behind.
However, those statements cannot be compared one by one, as there is a big difference in how intensively the countries test.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that over the weekend there has been a dialogue with Danish companies about whether they can contribute with equipment that is lacking in the country and whether they can help with transport.
However, the aid must not affect the Danish healthcare system:
– Denmark will of course help to the extent that we have the opportunity to do so and have the concrete capacities that India demands.
– But it is crucial that we on the Danish side actually help with what India specifically demands, says Jeppe Kofod.
During the pandemic, Denmark has, among other things, donated excess respirators to Albania and Ukraine, who needed them more.
Respirators were also offered to Italy, which was hit extremely hard at the start of the pandemic.
However, they were found to be unsuitable for corona patients. The whole case resulted in a so-called nose to Jeppe Kofod and two other ministers.
A nose is when the Folketing raises criticism of a minister in a case. It has no other consequences than that the Minister has received criticism.
Source: The Nordic Page