As India continues to battle against the rising COVID cases and the shortage of oxygen, many public figures from varied fields, have come out to lend a helping hand and give some hope. The latest addition to the list is Tim Cook, Chief Executive at Apple Inc., who recently pledged his support for India’s fight against the pandemic, on behalf of the technology giant.
Cook said on his official Twitter, that the company will be providing aid relief and making donations on the ground.
Amid a devastating rise of COVID cases in India, our thoughts are with the medical workers, our Apple family and everyone there who is fighting through this awful stage of the pandemic. Apple will be donating to support and relief efforts on the ground.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 26, 2021
The company has not yet revealed how it will be going about with the donation process. Speculations range far and wide, from possible contacts being made to Not-for-profit organizations, to grants being made to the government.
Interestingly, competitors Microsoft and Google, too had pledged solidarity and support to Indians during the crisis only yesterday, through CEO’s Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai. They had not shied away from giving more detailed plans about their donations, unlike Apple.
Pichai had pledged that Google will be making donations worth ₹135 Crore to organizations supporting high risk communities and for medical supplies. This will include two separate grants worth ₹20 Crore to the online platform for donation, Give India, as well as to UNICEF, by the company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has chosen to focus on the oxygen supply front of the issue, and has announced that it will be aiding the purchase of oxygen concentration devices, which are proving to be very important right now. CEO Satya Nadella took to Twitter to say:
I am heartbroken by the current situation in India. I’m grateful the U.S. government is mobilizing to help. Microsoft will continue to use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices.
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) April 26, 2021
Amazon is not to be left behind, as it has announced a collaborative effort with Pune Platform for Covid-19 Response, Temasek Foundation, and ACT Grants, to provide for airlifting of more than 8,000 oxygen concentration devices and 500 BiPAP machines, all the way from Singapore for donation to various hospitals and public health institutions.
Apart from these four companies, the CEOs of around 40 major American companies have joined forces to set up a country-specific global task force, which will be handed the responsibility of making vaccines, critical medical supplies, oxygen, and other important devices and materials, available, in order to tackle the rapidly spreading second wave of the COVID
