New Delhi: While 1,70,841 COVID patients across the country are on ventilator, as many as 9,02,291 patients are on oxygen support, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. In his virtual address at the 25th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) to discuss the pandemic situation, the minister said that 1.34 percent of COVID caseload was in ICU, 0.39 percent of cases were on ventilators and 3.70 percent COVID patients were on oxygen support.
The Supreme Court has set up a national task force that will ensure streamlining of oxygen distribution as Covid-19 crisis in the country has caused massive shortage of oxygen in hospitals. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka are some of the states that have been ravaged by oxygen shortage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke to chief ministers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu on the COVID-19 situation in their states, government sources said. Modi has been interacting with various chief ministers over telephone for the last couple of days to take stock of the pandemic situation in their states. In tweets, the office of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Modi expressed satisfaction over the declining infection rate in the state and assured Chouhan of all possible help from the Centre. Chouhan informed the prime minister about various efforts being undertaken by the state to fight the pandemic and thanked him for the Centre’s support. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur also tweeted about his interaction with Modi.
No fresh COVID-19 cases have been detected in 180 districts in the country in the last seven days, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. In his virtual address at the 25th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) to discuss the pandemic situation, the minister said that as on date, 1.34 per cent of COVID-19 patients were in ICU, 0.39 per cent on ventilator support and 3.70 per cent on oxygen support.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government is readying 12,500 beds with oxygen lines on a war-footing to meet the escalating demand for such beds for the Coronavirus infected in government hospitals, Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said on Saturday. In order to ensure that Remdesivir is freely available in other parts of Tamil Nadu, the government would make available the anti-viral drug at Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli for sale over the counter as is being done at the Kilpauk Government Medical College Hospital here, the minister said.
(With Agency Inputs)