The Delhi High Court on Saturday asked the Centre and the Delhi government to coordinate on the issue of making medical oxygen available to hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, observing that citizens cannot be left to die.
Delhi on Saturday reported 24,103 new COVID-19 cases and 357 deaths, the highest single-day toll for the city since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Hospitals across the country are crumbling under pressure of oxygen shortage amid covid second wave. As the urgency for supply increases, oxygen is being transported by air, rail and road.The Indian Air Force and Indian Railways are chipping in to transport oxygen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the COVID-19 challenge before the country now is bigger than the last year and called for making efforts to ensure that the infectious disease is stopped from hitting villages "by all means".
A tanker, carrying 2.5 tons of oxygen, arrived at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on April 24. The oxygen will however last for four to five hours.
The railways has carried a total of 10 containers carrying nearly 150 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen to different states in the last 24 hours, the national transporter said on Saturday.
Amid oxygen shortage in the national capital, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said Delhi has been allotted more than the quota they had asked for and now to rationalise it in a timely manner and the responsibility to finely plan it lies with the state government.
Around 100 coronavirus-infected patients are already receiving treatment at the emergency department. This is in addition to more than 800 patients who are already admitted at various centres of AIIMS, said the officials of the premier hospital.
PM Modi chaired a meeting to review steps taken to boost oxygen availability in the country. He emphasised that there was an immediate need to augment the supply of medical-grade oxygen as well as equipment required for patient care both at home and in hospitals.
The observation by a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli came during hearing of a plea by Maharaja Agrasen Hospital over shortage of oxygen for seriously-ill COVID patients.
On April 21, the Tata Group on social media platforms stated that it is "committed to doing as much as possible to strengthen the fight against Covid-19" and to "mitigate the oxygen crisis".
Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday pointed to the shortage of vaccines and warned the government of more protests if people were turned away at hospitals.
Delhi logged 24,331 fresh COVID-19 cases and a record single-day jump of 348 deaths on Friday while the positivity rate stood at 32.43 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday urged the central government to focus on vaccines, oxygen, and other health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic instead of "spending on PR and unnecessary projects".
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government on Friday set up a 24x7 control room to handle the COVID-19 crisis in the state and deputed 20 officers who will work in three shifts, an official spokesperson said.
Tughlakabad Institutional Area located Batra Hospital received emergency oxygen supply from the Delhi government
An Oxygen Express train carrying around 30,000 litre of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow on Saturday morning as Uttar Pradesh is battling a sudden surge in coronavirus cases
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that a 1200-bed hospital will be set up by DRDO in Gandhinagar at helipad ground in collaboration with Tata Trust.
Amid the huge Covid crisis, Prime Minister Narendra held a virtual meeting with chief ministers of 10 worst-affected states. Several states have been sending SOS messages to the Centre regarding shortage of oxygen, medicines and other medical needs.
In an Exclusive Interaction with India Tv Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava speaks about how the delhi police is helping people amid Covid Crisis.
Top News
Latest News
