Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday conducted a virtual meeting with top government officials to review the Covid-19 and vaccination situation amidst the second deadly wave of the pandemic in the nation.
The meeting, however, comes at the time when PM Modi is occupied campaigning for the West Bengal elections at the time when the nation is recording an unprecedented surge in the infection cases and acute shortage of corona vaccine.
PM Modi's this behavior hailed massive criticism from the leaders of opposition parties.
Earlier today, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he couldn't speak to the PM as he is busy preaching his party's position in WB.
Notably, this is PM's second Covid-review meeting in two days and the third since last week.
PM held a meeting on April 17 after the nation recorded over frightening two lakh infection cases for the third consecutive day. With this sudden spike in the cases, the nation stands baffled with the healthcare infrastructure on the verge of collapse as the hospitals are flooded with patients, doctors distressful and neckered, acute shortage of ventilators, hospital beds, and oxygen cylinders.
“Various aspects relating to medicines, oxygen, ventilators and vaccination were discussed and PM stressed that there is no substitute for testing, tracking and treatment while directing that all necessary measures must be taken to ramp up the availability of hospital beds for COVID patients. The Prime Minister also directed that additional supply of beds through temporary hospitals and isolation centres should be ensured,” said a release issued by the government.
In the meeting, PM took stock of the anti-viral drug Remdesivir supply along with other vaccines and noted that the uses of these medicines should be in compliance with the govt approved medical norms and that their misuse, hoarding, and black marketing practices need to be strictly curbed.
The Prime Minister “has directed that the installation of approved medical oxygen plants should be accelerated,” said the release. It added that from the PM CARES fund, 162 PSA Oxygen plants are being installed in 32 States/UTs and one lakh cylinders are being procured and will be supplied to States soon.
With the spike in cases, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi have informed the Centre government about the low oxygen reserves.
Notably, oxygen is much needed by the states' hospitals for the people who show advanced symptoms of Covid-19 and face difficulty breathing.
Most of the hospitals are facing the crunch of beds due to which patients have to share beds with others. In Pune, Maharashtra, to tackle the situation, makeshift wards are being established beneath the metal sheets.
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While in Gujarat, ambulance services are being over-used to bring either Covid positive or virus suspected patients to the hospitals.
In Delhi, people are striving to find space for cremation at the crematoriums and in graveyards too. Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow has also reported startling yet disappointed discrepancies between the official death toll and the bodies queued for cremation in the crematoriums.
The unprecedented second wave has brought a critical shortage of vaccine doses and many states including Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha have rung the alarm bells for the GOI.
As of now, vaccine doses have been inoculated to more than 12 crore population. Owing to the shortage of vaccine, the Centre earlier has approved the use of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to save the lives of people. Before this, only Covaxin and Covidshield were being used to administer the doses.
India on Saturday reported more than two lakh Covid cases with 1,341 fatalities.