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In the aftermath of Cyclone Tauktae, how you're helping in India
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Dear Friend,
We wanted to reach out to you with some important updates. As you may have seen in the news, the situation in India became even more dire when Tropical Cyclone Tauktae, a storm with wind speeds equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane, made landfall Monday night on the western coast of India.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
• More than 200,000 people from the Gujarat region have been evacuated including hundreds of COVID-19 patients from wards in Mumbai.
• Within Gujarat, power outages were reported at 52 hospitals and 13 oxygen plants. Water supply systems were also damaged in nearly 6,000 villages.
• India has broken records in numbers of new cases and deaths per day since April, with 2,155,392 new cases and more than 29,000 deaths last week.
• With only 3% of India’s population fully vaccinated and so many people in crowded temporary relief sites, we are deeply concerned about new outbreaks developing in the coming weeks.
Project HOPE is putting your support into action with even greater urgency. With the help of local partners and government officials, you are helping facilitate rapid in-country procurement and distribution of PPE, oxygen supplies, ICU equipment, ventilators, and other critical items to support the already overwhelmed health care system.
LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR IMPACT >> |
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| Tom Cotter, our Director of Emergency Response and Preparedness, explains how the cyclone has heightened the dangers faced by people and families in India: |
Cyclone Tauktea has delivered another blow to India on the same day the country confirmed its highest-ever daily death toll from COVID-19. Most, if not all, of those who are now displaced by cyclone Tauktea are exposed to the coronavirus and the B.1.617 variant as they are crammed into temporary relief sites.
We are also learning that vaccination drives were halted across the western coastal districts of India due to the storm. With electricity lines down, we also worry over the disruption of electricity supply to COVID-19 hospitals and industrial plants generating and bottling medical oxygen.
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Because of your help, an initial shipment of 500,000 protective masks is already being distributed. Large procurements for additional supplies and equipment are well underway. We're also working to stop the spread with public health education on COVID-19 prevention and vaccines.
In Nepal, Project HOPE has trained 299 frontline healthcare workers in COVID-19 acute care, with additional trainings planned over the coming weeks. We'll also be providing mental health programming for the frontline health care workers facing incredible stress, trauma and fatigue.
READ THE FULL SITUATION REPORT HERE >>
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The past year has challenged us all, and we can't tell you enough how much your ongoing time, compassion and support means to us and the people we serve. From families forced to leave their homes by this disaster in India to new moms and babies in the Dominican Republic, your impact reaches around the world to save lives.
We couldn't do it without you — thank you for standing strong with us through it all. |
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