FedEx announces second pandemic dedicated flight
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and one of the world’s largest express transportation companies, today announced the arrival of a second dedicated charter flight carrying critical medical aid to India.
This is part of the company’s continuous relief efforts to support India’s fight against the recent COVID-19 surge.
On May 16, more than 780 oxygen concentrators, over 1.8 million KN95 masks, and medicines and pharmaceutical supplies were unloaded from a FedEx Boeing 777F charter flight in New Delhi, India. These supplies were provided by Direct Relief and will ultimately be delivered to healthcare facilities across India. This is in addition to the first FedEx donated charter flight that arrived on May 9, which transported more than 3,400 oxygen concentrators, converters, and nearly 265,000 KN95 masks for Direct Relief to Mumbai, India. Both charters originated in Newark, New Jersey.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce May 5 announced the formation of the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, which includes numerous Indian American company executives.
The public-private partnership will provide immediate assistance toâ¯India and will assist in coordinating relief to respond to COVID-19 surges, according to the news release.
Among the members of the taskforce include Alphabet Inc. chief executive Sundar Pichai, Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayan, Deloitte CEO Punit Renjen, FedEx chief operating officer and director Raj Subramaniam, IBM chair and CEO Arvind Krishna, and VMware chief operating officer Sanjay Poonen.
The group also includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta and Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, among others.
Technology giant IBM is helping colleagues and the community with critical resources amidst the medical emergency due to the second Covid-19 surge in the country. The Big Blue said in a blog post that it has set up a dedicated 24x7 medical helpline through healthcare firm Portea for a variety of services including doctor consultation, and medical, home care and testing services. It is offering round the clock emergency transport services for medical requirements for both employees and their immediate family members who are Covid positive (for transport to a medical facility). It also applies to those who are Covid negative (for procuring medical supplies or attend to impacted family members).
Task Force Hopes to Save 1 Million Lives By Sending Oxygen Concentrators to India
On 5/11/21 at 5:20 PM EDT
A U.S.-based task force is striving to deliver 100,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the hope that the supplies will help save one million lives, as India struggles through its latest wave of COVID-19 infections.
Fueled by public organizations and private companies in the U.S., the effort began last month as reports spread of India s fractured health care system and photos emerged of people surrounded by funeral pyres watching their loved ones bodies burn.
Oxygen quickly became a point of focus for health officials in India as supplies ran low, and countries around the world began responding with offers to contribute their own supplies.