Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said that there is no dearth of oxygen in the state and the only issue is empty gas cylinders.
The State Government has urged the Central Government to provide additional D-Type cylinders, the Chief Minister said while reviewing the COVID-19 situation of Chamba district.
He said the PSA Oxygen plant in Chamba would start functioning within a week which would meet the demand of oxygen in the district.
In order to facilitate smooth transportation of cylinders, district wise mapping of oxygen manufacturers would be done so that oxygen could be supplied to the required district from the nearest point. This would not only save precious time in transportation but also ensure timely supply of oxygen, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government would ensure the availability of best health infrastructure to cater to the needs of the COVID patients keeping in view that it is an aspirational district and difficult from geographical point of view.
Thakur said that presently out of total 713 active COVID patients in the district, only 68 patients are in hospitals and remaining in home isolation. However, the government has asked the district administration to increase bed capacity in Chamba district by over 200 beds in order to meet out any emergent situation, he said.
He further said that the State Government would also ensure adequate staff in health institutions of the district by outsourcing the staff. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Government Medical College, Chamba would be strengthened by providing adequate men and machinery. MRI and CT Scan facility would be provided in the medical college soon to facilitate the patients of the district, he added.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government is committed to strengthen the mechanism of home isolation as about 90 percent patients of Covid-19 are in home isolation.
He urged the medical fraternity to ensure constant vigil and regular monitoring of health parameters of the patients in home isolation so that if need arises, they could be shifted to hospitals immediately.
He also urged the elected representatives of PRIs and ULBs to extend their full support in taking care of these patients.
Thakur said that effective mechanism should also be evolved for aggressive testing and contact tracing.
It was informed that the oxygen production unit would soon start functioning in Chamba medical college with capacity of refilling about 100 cylinders per day.
3346 beds available in various hospitals of state
A spokesperson of the State Government on Monday said that there is no shortage of oxygen supply and beds in the hospitals and efforts are being made to enhance the bed capacity and oxygen supply day by day.
As of now, 3346 beds were available in various health institutes of the state, he said.
The spokesman said that keeping in view the increasing cases of COVID-19, the State Government has increased the number of beds to 1924 in various COVID dedicated health institutes, hospitals and COVID centers.
He said that 1422 beds are available in various COVID hospitals in the state on April 21 while presently the bed capacity has been enhanced to 3346.
The spokesperson said that per day availability of oxygen in the hospitals is 53 MT while the requirement is 23 MT.
