A new United States-based public-private partnership, the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, announced last week that it will work with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council and the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership to lend immediate aid to India’s COVID-19 crisis.
Organized by the Chamber itself, with support from the Business Roundtable, the partnership consists of various corporations, non-profits, and individuals dedicated to mobilizing resources for COVID-19 relief efforts to the parts of the world most in need. India is the first focus, with relief divided into three parts: the delivery of 1,000 Medtronic ventilators from Puritan Bennett, the delivery of 25,000 oxygen concentrators, and sourcing ideas and data for employees in the country.
Delivery of the ventilators has already begun, and all remaining ventilators are expected to arrive by June 3, 2021, following their manufacture and shipping by Medtronic. That company will also handle the installation and virtual training in their use. The oxygen concentrators should begin arriving by the end of the month.
Partners in the task force will work with U.S. and Indian government officials to share information and coordinate their relief efforts. This new coalition consists of dozens of companies, including Accenture, FedEx, PepsiCo, Raytheon Technologies, and Zoom.