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Karnataka has adequate hospital beds, but we are running short of oxygen and Remdesivir supplies, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa told prime minister Narendra Modi.
Yediyurappa was participating in the meeting convened by the Prime Minister with 10 other states worst affected by Covid-19 infection said, “Karnataka has got adequate beds to manage the Covid patients. At this rate we will face problems in the coming days to manage serious cases. We have permitted opening of step-down hospitals to decrease the load on hospitals. We are also considering setting up Field Hospitals with ICU facilities.”
During the last 6 months, the State has taken action to ramp up hospital infrastructure which is proving beneficial now. “Further, we are also taking 50 percent beds of the private hospitals for admitting patients referred by the Government.”
Oxygen consumption
“Yesterday, the State consumed about 500 tonnes of oxygen. I would like to inform you that the Centre has allocated only 300 tonnes of oxygen to Karnataka. If only 300 tonnes of oxygen were to be used, we will have to close a large number of medical facilities. This issue needs to be addressed.”
As per Central Government’s norms, Karnataka needs 1,142 tonnes of oxygen per day from April 25 and 1,471 tonnes of oxygen per day from April 30.
“I have already requested the Union Commerce and Industry minister as well as Union Health and Family Welfare minister to increase our allocation to 1,471 tonnes per day. I request the Prime Minister to issue necessary directions in this regard,” Yediyurappa pleaded.
The Chief minister requested that 7,667 D-type cylinders and 64 oxygen generation plants are needed. “I will request the Prime Minister to give directions to the authorities to allot these.”
Remdesivir availability
On the availability of Remdesivir, Yediyurappa said, “The State is finding it difficult to procure adequate quantities of Remdesivir. I will also request the Prime Minister to issue directions to allocate about 2 lakh doses of Remdesivir for the next 10 days.”
Also read: Karnataka allows hospitals to tie up with hotels to expand bed capacities
Explaining about the vaccination drive in the State, the chief minister said, “We have done fairly well in Covid vaccination. So far 82 lakh people have been inoculated in the State. From May 1, the new vaccination policy will come into effect. Given the limited production capacity within the country an equitable distribution of vaccines among the States would be helpful.”
Covid cases
Covid cases in Karnataka started increasing from first week of March. During the last two weeks, the numbers are growing rapidly. Yesterday (April 22) 25,795 cases were reported from the State and the positivity rate of the State has increased to about 16 per cent. Bengaluru Urban is the worst affected district. Other districts which are witnessing large numbers of cases are Tumkuru, Ballari, Mysuru, Hassan and Kalaburgi.
Yediyurappa said, “As of now, the number of active cases in the State is 1,96,236 with 1,37,813 active cases being in Bengaluru. The case fatality continues to be below 0.5 per cent.
“For containing Covid spread in Bengaluru, eight zones have been created in the city and Ministers have been made incharge. Senior IAS Officers are appointed as Nodal officers to support them to manageCovid-19 situation in Bengaluru city.”
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