PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — India is now the epicenter of the worst ongoing coronavirus outbreak, and the crisis there is only getting worse.
3,689 COVID-19 deaths have been reported there today, a record number. That comes 24 hours after the country recorded more than 400,000 cases in a single day for the first time.
As the U.S. restricts travel from India, some Philadelphia-area groups with ties to the country aren't letting that stop them from helping those in need.
Paresh Birla, president of the Council of Indian Organizations in Greater Philadelphia, said through fundraisers and connecting with other groups, they've been able to send supplies to overrun hospitals and medical facilities in India, "to help provide economic support, infrastructure, oxygen concentrators, any kind of support which we can provide we have been actively working on."
The country is facing a lack of both oxygen and hospital beds as COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise.
"We’ve been able to provide funds so that oxygen concentrators can be procured, purchased from all around the globe, and it can be sent back to India. 600-700 oxygen concentrators have been sent," he said.
Data from Johns Hopkins University shows COVID-19 cases are up 26% in India. That has put Birla and his associates on edge as they work to make sure friends and family there are OK.
"Everyone is hunkering down, and everyone is trying to manage the social distancing and make sure they are self-protected and also protecting the community," he said.
"We want to make sure the people that can handle the virus and know how to handle the virus are getting the right tools."
Travel restrictions from India take effect Tuesday. Birla said that's cause for concern for people who've flown to India to take care of loved ones and need to return to the States.
"Families are going to be impacted no matter what," he said, "and we can understand why it has been done and we don't want that particular variant, those things to come here."
The White House's restrictions do not include U.S. citizens, their spouses and close family, or legal permanent residents.