COVID-19: Modi government ignored panel's advice to scale up oxygen
Ten days ago, the Empowered Group of Officers (EG-1), headed by NITI Aayog member Dr. VK Paul, had told authorities, including the Health Ministry, to take immediate steps to scale up the availability of medical oxygen, The Indian Express reported today. Dr. Paul is a member of the government's core team responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are more details on this.
The panel highlighted the 'urgency of the worsening situation'
The EG-1 had even recommended "extraordinary measures" to ramp up oxygen provision under a Plan-B, aimed at meeting a rise of six lakh new cases a day. "The urgency of the worsening pandemic situation with implication for oxygen availability should be conveyed to EG-2," it said. The EG-2, meanwhile, has been tasked to ensure essential medical equipment including oxygen to affected states.
Last year, the group had advised to increase hospital beds
Last September too, the EG-1 panel had said that to meet a surge of three lakh cases a day, the country needed 1.6 lakh ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds, 3.6 lakh non-ICU beds. It added that 75% of non-ICU beds should be enabled for oxygen delivery. The group had warned that unless measures were taken, India would face surges of three lakh new cases.
Parliamentary panel advised Centre to increase beds, oxygen
That apart, a parliamentary panel had last November advised the central government to increase the number of hospital beds and oxygen production. The committee had said that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority must take appropriate measures to cap the price of oxygen cylinders so that their availability and affordability is ensured. It also said that the number of government hospital beds was "grossly inadequate."
COVID-19 situation in India continues to worsen
India is currently in the middle of an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with several states reporting an acute shortage of medical equipment including hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, medicines, and ventilators. In the last 24 hours, the country reported over 3.5 lakh new cases - the highest single-day surge for any country. 2,812 more fatalities took the death toll past 1.95 lakh.
