Chairing a key meeting on Covid-19 situation with Chief Ministers of 11 states and Union Territories that reported the maximum number of cases recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the states to set up a high-level coordination committee to carry oxygen to different hospitals of the state.
This Coordination Committee should ensure that as soon as there is allotment of oxygen from the Centre, it can deliver oxygen as per requirement in different hospitals of the state immediately.
The PM said that every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, meant for any state, is stopped or stranded. The PM called for working together to fight the pandemic with collective power and urged states to coordinate with one another to fulfil the requirements of medicines and oxygen.
PM Modi also urged the administration to inform people continuously so they do not indulge in panic buying. He asked states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines.
With a number of states pressing the panic button on oxygen supply, PM Modi said there is a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply and all the concerned departments and ministries of the government are also working together. Industrial oxygen has also been diverted to meet immediate requirements.
He said the Centre is working on all possible options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of oxygen tankers. For this, Railways has started Oxygen Express. Air Force has pitched in to transport Empty Oxygen tankers to reduce travel time.
"If we work as one nation, there will not be any scarcity of resources," Modi said in the meeting which was his third meeting with CMs in the last 5 weeks.
Noting that the virus is affecting several states as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities at once, Modi said India succeeded in the first way due to united effort and strategy, reiterating the need to work the same way.
He assured of Centre’s full support to all the states. He added that the Ministry of Health is also in touch with the states and is monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advice to the states from time to time.
He stressed the need for widespread testing, and said that the vaccination programme should not slow down in this situation.
PM Modi said along with all measures for the treatment of the patients, hospital safety is also very important. Expressing grief on recent incidents of oxygen leakage and fire at hospitals in Maharashtra, PM Modi said the administrative staff of the hospital needs to be made aware about safety protocols.
Earlier, a presentation was given by NITI member health VK Paul, which highlighted the preparations being done to counter the new surge of infections. The presentation elaborated on the roadmap for ramping up medical facilities and targeted treatment of patients. Paul briefed everyone about boosting medical infrastructure, teams and supplies, clinical management, containment, vaccination and community engagement.