Helping India breathe amid COVID-19

Good morning!

India is recording an average of four lakh COVID-19 cases daily, which has put immense stress on the country's healthcare infrastructure and has impacted the oxygen supply. 

To reduce the burden on hospitals, B2B ecommerce startup Moglix has come out with a solution for procurement and allocation of oxygen concentrators via corporates/ NGOs/ trusts/ RWAs.

The startup has developed a "group sharing model" for increasing the impact of every oxygen concentrator by 100x, and is enabling organisations, NGOs, trusts, and RWAs to create oxygen concentrator banks for patients and providing a safety net for their communities.

Moglix has already provided oxygen concentrators to 25+ organisations in the last 10 days under this model. It has also distributed 15 million+ PPE kits and safety items amid the pandemic, as well as set up home quarantine services, mental health counselling services, SOS task force team of volunteers, insurance cover, and COVID-19 care fund for their corona warriors.

Meanwhile, the Railways said it has delivered nearly 4,200 MT of liquid oxygen in 268 tankers to various states since April 19. So far, 68 Oxygen Express trains have completed their journeys.

Read about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

Here are some useful tools and links that can help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

The Interview

To fight the deadly second wave of COVID-19, it is important to understand how the disease spreads, how people can protect themselves, and what the future looks like in the new normal. In a conversation with YourStory, Dr Kishlay Anand, Chairman of Akos MD, shares his views on the current situation in India, and what needs to be done at multiple levels in order to deal with the crisis.

Editor’s Pick: Advice startup founders received from their mothers

On Mother’s Day, YourStory reached out to leading founders from the Indian startup ecosystem to know about the best piece of advice they received from their mothers, and how it has helped them navigate through the good times and the bad. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

From B2B to D2C men's apparel brand 

Many businesses were hit hard due to COVID-19. Stuck with a huge inventory, B2B men's apparel brand SNITCH decided to take the D2C route to reach more customers. The startup offers shirts, T-shirts, trousers, jeans, shorts, boxers etc for men in the age group of 18-35, and now delivers to more than 20 states in India. Read more.

News & Updates

• Due to the surging cases of COVID-19, the ongoing lockdown in Delhi was extended up to May 17 morning, with the Delhi government placing stricter restrictions. The Uttar Pradesh government also extended the statewide coronavirus lockdown.

• To meet the needs of coronavirus patients, three new oxygen plants will be commissioned in the Union Territory of Ladakh by the end of May. Lt Governor R K Mathur also said that stricter controls will be put in place on entrance into Ladakh.

• Koo is planning to double its headcount in the next one year as it significantly scales up its user base on the platform. Koo Co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna said the platform aims to hit 100 million downloads in the next year or so.

• Reliance Retail Ltd has been ranked second fastest-growing retailer in the world in 2021 by Deloitte. Also, it has been ranked 53rd in the list of Global Powers of Retailing.

• Mutual funds invested Rs 5,526 crore in stocks in April 2021. Kaushlendra Singh Sengar, Founder and CEO at INVEST19, said investment by mutual funds in equities will continue in the coming months as multiple fintech players are entering into this space.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“It’s easy to say stay strong, much harder to do so. But when we come together as a collective force, we can emerge from this crisis.”

— Kunal Shah, CEO, CRED

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