"In the past two weeks, around two dozen flights departed for India from five cities in China carrying nearly 400 tonnes of medical supplies, including RT-PCR test kits, Rapid Antibody Tests, PPE kits, thermometers etc," said Ministry of External Affairs' Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.
"Around 20 more flights are expected to bring supplies from China in the coming days, and this is likely to be stepped up considerably in the next few months as our procurement efforts gain momentum," he added.
With an increase of 1,229 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of cases in the country reached 21,700, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.
The count is inclusive of 16,689 active cases, 4,325 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated, while 686 patients who have died due to the deadly virus.
( With inputs from ANI )