Karnataka Sets Up 24/7 War Room To Ensure Supply Of Oxygen And Remdesivir

In a bid to address complaints of non-availability of oxygen and Remdesivir in capital city Bengaluru and many parts of Karnataka, the state has set up a 24/7 war room to ensure their sufficient and timely supply.

Minister for Health and medical Education Dr S Sudhakar tweeted the same saying a war-room has been put in place ‘with staff working round the clock in 3 shifts’.

Unavailability of medical oxygen and Remdesivir were widely reported in the media sending many parts of the state into panic as the number of cases was seeing a steep surge in recent days.

In a bid to address complaints of non-availability of oxygen and Remdesivir in capital city Bengaluru and many parts of Karnataka, the state has set up a 24/7 war room to ensure their sufficient and timely supply.

Minister for Health and medical Education Dr S Sudhakar tweeted the same saying a war-room has been put in place ‘with staff working round the clock in 3 shifts’.

Unavailability of medical oxygen and Remdesivir were widely reported in the media sending many parts of the state into panic as the number of cases was seeing a steep surge in recent days.

Addressing a press meet at the office of South Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya earlier today, Sudhakar said the state has been assured of enough oxygen supply by 18 manufacturers and suppliers in the state.

“Small nursing homes are the ones facing the greatest trouble as far as oxygen supply is concerned. They are dependent on cylinders and won't have provision of liquid oxygen,” he added.

The largest supplier of oxygen is JSW Bellari and Sajjan Jindal has assured they are willing to provide the oxygen needed for Karnataka, even if that requires them to halt operations at their steel factory, said Sudhakar.

At present, around an additional 40 tonnes of oxygen that has been sought for Bengaluru city has already been provided.

“I am assuring the citizens of Bengaluru that the issues around cylinders that was prevailing is being addressed. 3,000 cylinders have been provided to one institution and 2,000 to another,” said Sudhakar, adding that there will be no dearth of oxygen in Bengaluru city.

In order to address issues at small nursing homes, he said there would be an order issued to prohibit smaller hospitals with less than 20 beds that do not have the capacity to provide required facilities and oxygen from treating Covid cases.

“The government will not tolerate fatalities that rise out of situations like these where for want of governmental reimbursements and the like, private smaller hospitals are admitting patients and not providing them the needed medical facilities,” he warned.

Only hospitals with above 30 beds will be permitted to treat Covid patients of which 50 per cent will have to be reserved for the government.

Additionally, a new 6 kilo litre capacity medical oxygen plant has been installed at Chamarajanagara District Hospital and it will be operational very soon, said Sudhakar.