The European Commission has activated its EU Civil Protection Mechanism and is seeking to send oxygen and medicine to virus-hit India after receiving a request from Delhi.

"Alarmed by the epidemiological situation in India. We are ready to support," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

"The EU executive is already coordinating with EU countries that are ready to provide urgently needed oxygen and medicine rapidly," European commissioner for humanitarian aid Janez Lenarcic wrote on Twitter.