The Maharashtra Government has come up with an ambitious Rs 745 crore plan to import of 25,000MTs of oxygen, instal 132 oxygen plants based on pressure-swing absorption (PSA) technology, oxygen concentrators and tankers and the procurement of 10 lakh Remdesivir injections to treat its Covid-afflicted. For this plan, the government will tap into its contingency fund.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced on April 13 that the government had earmarked Rs 3,300 crore to increase health infrastructure, including the procurement of medicines, medical equipment and related material.
The government’s move comes at a time based on its projection that the number of active cases will cross 10.32 lakhs by May 2, from the current 6,98,354 cases. Thackeray and Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope have said that if cases continue to increase at the present pace, medical infrastructure in the state will be strained to the utmost and there will be a shortage of oxygen, medicines and injections.
A senior health department official told The Free Press Journal, “The government swung into action as the Union health ministry has estimated there will be 99,665 cases on April 30, with a shortfall of 7,041 isolation beds with oxygen, 1,489 ICU beds and 1,112 ventilators.”
As reported earlier by The Free Press Journal, Singapore, Bangladesh and Egypt have already evinced interest to supply Remdesivir to the state.
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