European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Sunday on Twitter that the European Union is preparing to provide "assistance" to India to combat the acceleration of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic after the country recorded record cases Sunday, by activating the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

This mechanism was established in 2001, and it allows the countries of the European Union to participate in the coordination of their assistance and the deployment of resources around the world in the event of a large-scale emergency that cannot be handled by a specific country on its own.

"The European Union is gathering its resources to respond quickly to India's request for assistance through the European Union's European Civil Protection Mechanism," Von der Leyen wrote, expressing its "concern about the epidemiological situation" in this country.

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Linarkic tweeted on the same social network, explaining that the Emergency Response Coordination Center, which is at the core of this mechanism, was coordinating with "European Union member states on their readiness to provide oxygen and treatments in emergency situations."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Sunday that her government is preparing to provide urgent assistance to India.

"To the Indian people, I want to express my full sympathy amid the terrible suffering that COVID-19 is causing again to the population," she said.

Sunday, India recorded 350,000 new cases of Coronavirus within 24 hours, in a world record. With this record toll, the giant country of 1.3 billion people is unable to control the epidemic boom sweeping it.

With the influx of people infected with the virus, its medical system is under tremendous pressure as the country faces a shortage of hospital beds, oxygen reserves and vital medicines.