Amid the alarming rise in daily Covid-19 cases in India, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighted the details of assistance being provided to states to fight the second wave of the pandemic. In his Twitter posts, the Union Health Minister informed that from the increased production and supply of antiviral drug Remdesivir to uninterrupted supply of oxygen, continuous supply of Covid-19 vaccines, and enhancing the healthcare infrastructure, the Centre is extending all possible support to the states for the treatment of those affected by the virus and curb its spread.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan assured in his tweets that the production of Remdesivir would be doubled to 74.1L/month by May as express permission has been granted to 20 manufacturing plants to ramp up its production. He added that the export of the medicine has been prohibited and its prices have been capped by the Centre. Additionally, the government has heightened its monitoring to strictly curb any malpractice, hoarding, and black marketing related to Remdesivir.
On the increased demand for oxygen, the Union Health Minister said the projected demand of high-burden states has been mapped with supplies and the production of the life-saving gas is being maximised diverting it from industrial to medical use. He also said that the Centre is expediting the installation of 162 PSA plants across the country to meet the oxygen demand, apart from that round-the-clock coordination cell has been set up to assist the states.
With India recording 2,61,500 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, the health infrastructure of the country is under tremendous pressure. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the number of beds for Corona patients will be increased by setting up temporary hospitals across the nation. At the hospitals under Union Ministries, dedicated wards are being set up, in addition to that, ventilators are being provided to states by the government of India. He said that a total of 1121 ventilators are being given to Maharashtra, 1700 to Uttar Pradesh, 1500 ventilators are being provided to Jharkhand, 1600 to Gujarat, 152 ventilators to Madhya Pradesh, and 230 to Chhattisgarh.
Amid the complaints of states on the shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, the Union Health Minister informed that supplies of vaccines to small states are being replenished every 7 days, while big states are replenished every 4 days. He said that all steps are being taken to enhance the basket of available vaccines. He also assured that the production of Covaxin will be multiplied ten times by September 2021.
Unified Pension Scheme (UPS): How it differs from NPS and OPS
India braces for heatwave: Top tips to stay safe in sweltering conditions
Flight cancelled or delayed? Guidelines you must know