WASHINGTON: Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has issued an urgent appeal to raise funds for India, which is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19. "India needs our help - and it's our moral responsibility to rise to the challenge. This is a global pandemic and until we crush the virus everywhere, we cannot fully recover," Jayapal said on Friday.
Jayapal, who was recently in India to visit her family before the surge spiraled out of control, said all the funds raised would go to three initiatives. First is the WISH Foundation, which works round-the-clock to set up COVID care centres.
Second is GiveIndia which supports families living in poverty who have lost a loved one - often the sole breadwinner - with direct cash payments of Rs 30,000.
Third is EdelGive Foundation, which in coordination with Goonj and Jan Sahas, works to provide migrants and vulnerable population cash support, food and health supplies, the Indian-American Congresswoman said.
Talking about her recent visit to India, she said, "The cases had started ramping up, and my parents - who are 80 and 90 years old - were both diagnosed with COVID just weeks after receiving their first dose of a vaccine."
"They both ended up in the hospital and have recovered - but I shudder to think what would have happened had they not been vaccinated, or had they gotten sick at the height of the surge we're seeing now," she said.
Describing the situation in India as dire, Jayapal said hundreds of thousands of new COVID cases are confirmed every day. "There are no hospital beds open. There is no oxygen supply left. People are dying before they can even get to a doctor," she said.