Credit card issuer American Express on Thursday said it has pledged Rs 9 crore for combating the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

“Rs 9 crore has been committed in various forms of financial support to back the tireless work of those on the front lines of this global crisis,” the company said in a statement.

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This includes contributions to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES) as well as to local organisations in India, it said.

The grants will help provide protective equipment to frontline healthcare workers, support the development of vaccines and research and help feed people impacted in our communities, among other critical needs, it added.

American Express Banking Corp Senior Vice President and Country Manager Majoj Adlakha said: “While we are doing everything possible to keep our colleagues and their families safe, we are also constantly striving to make a positive contribution and meaningful connection with the communities in which we live and work.”

The company said it has also partnered for an initiative called, ‘Hunger Heroes’ that will help distribution of dry ration and essential supplies to the families of 10,000 food delivery riders, severely impacted by the pandemic.

The proposed project would be implemented across India, with a specific focus in tier-2 and tier-3 cities where e-commerce logistics and online food delivery services have been affected the most due to COVID-19 lockdown.

All efforts have been complemented by partnering with NASSCOM Foundation for donation of 11,150 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits including N-95 masks to the hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Another partnership with Samhita ( Collective Good Foundation ) is enabling the company to procure PPE kits and other essentials for frontline healthcare and sanitation workers as well as isolation kits and beds for hospitals to support health infrastructure in NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune, it added.

As per the Health Ministry’s data, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 8,102 and the number of cases climbed to 2,86,579 in India after it registered the highest single-day spike of 357 fatalities and 9,996 cases till Thursday 8 AM.