Covid-19 in India

Covid 19

KOA leads by example – 2021 COVID-Relief initiative for India –

In April 2021, as India succumbed to the grips of the second wave of the pandemic, KOA, once again, rose to the standards of a pro-active charitable organization who strategically rolled out an immediate plan of action and successfully delivered exceptional COVID Relief.

Under the robust leadership of President Dr. Archana Kokroo, who took over KOA presidency only in January, 2021, KOA hosted several fundraising events and, for the first time in KOA history, raised over $500,000 (US dollars)just over a couple of weeks. Owing to our gracious donors,members and non-members, within and outside the KP community, KOA has donated and successfully distributed the following supplies across India, starting the first week of April

• 290 Oxygen Concentrators, each with a transformer(additional 42 Concentrators in transit)

• 1100 COVID-19 kits, each containing a Pulse Oximeter, N95 mask, face shield, sanitizer, surgical cap, thermometer, vitamins C & D, Zinc, and Dolo

• Additional 1500 Pulse Oximeters

• 5 BiPAP machines 

• Over 200 PPE gears

• 1100 Free  Meals 

 In collaboration with Matamaal Restaurant 

The majority of our initial distribution was focused aroundDelhi/NCR and Jammu where the community was most devastated. It was an enormous effort to build an infrastructure and support system overnight to procure the O2 concentrators and oximeters, arrange transportation and resources to send the supplies safely to their destination.Initially, the supplies were bought in India but as the but as the condition worsened and shortage of supplies surfaced, KOA decided to procure the same in the US working with US vendors and distributers arranged around New York. Considering the enormity of this entire effort and the goal of distribution beyond Delhi and Jammu, the President along with the KOA Board members Mr. Ashish Kachroo and Mr. Rakesh Thaploohelped collaborate with the following organizations and groups to maximize and consolidate the resources

• Kashmiri Medical Emergency Charitable Trust (KMECT)

• All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS)

• Vitasta Hospital Care Trust, Jammu

• Kakni Foundation, Cdr. Sanjay Kaul

• Global KP Diaspora

• Jagati camp, Pintoo ji Pandita, Jammu

• KPVolunteers (KPV) / Dr. Vikram Kaul, Jammu

• KP Sabha, Ghaziabad

• KP Welfare Society, Ghaziabad

• Kashmiri Seva Samaj (KSS), Faridabad, 

• KP COVID response Team, Col. Rajiv Raina, Delhi/NCR,

• Delhi/NCR Hospitals (Nana Lal, SGM, Medicheck)

• Kheer Bhawani Peeth, Jammu

• Gopinath Ashram Vasundara, Delhi

• KS-Shalimar Garden, Ghaziabad

• Shriya Bhat Foundation

• KP Helping Hand, Anantnag

• Kashmiri Hindu Sabha, Telengana

• Kashmiri Visthapit Hindu Samiti (KVHS), Jaipur 

• Bhagwan Gopinath Ashram, Bangalore

• and many other KP organizations in Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad

In addition to the massive equipment and meal distribution, KOA Medical Health Care Network (HCN), led by Dr. Rajiv Pandit, has been working tirelessly with the COVID Response teams in Delhi and Jammu. HCN has 75 physicians working closely with the local teams and coordinators on the ground in India, round the clock, 40 of them are taking hundreds of calls each day from patients and family members, providing consultations to COVID patients on the ground in India via video and phone calls. The HCN, along with KOAYouth built a tracking system managed to expedite the hospital admissions, Plasma donations, food supplies as well as to ensure the distribution of the equipment and other supplies to the most needy and affected patients. The physicians have created excellent instructional videos, Covid Treatment Guidelines, pamphlets for instructions, and other resources for the patients and their families, also instructing how to make Covid kits to the counterparts in India. 

As we mourn the loss of over 400 lives within our community, Dr. Archana Kokroo has multiple COVID-Relief projects planned to roll out in the weeks to come, potentially in collaboration with like-minded partners that will include 

• Vaccination drives in Jammu Camps

• Rehabilitation of families that lost their breadwinners due to the pandemic

• Create a robust healthcare infrastructure in Jammu to prepare for any similar calamity in future

• Mental Health Counseling that will be imperative post COVID trauma

In the words of Dr. Archana Kokroo, “The work has just begun, we have a long road ahead of us and we will continue our efforts under COVID Relief Program to rehabilitate our community which has suffered enormous losses due to this pandemic only second to our forced exodus 31 years back.It’s our sacred duty to save our community from yet another disaster; Let’s keep going with only one focus in mind – Save Lives, Drown Sorrow and Lift the Spirit of our Community.”