Scrambling to sort out the oxygen disaster that has severely hampered efforts to fight the second Covid wave, the Centre Saturday introduced that imports of medical-grade oxygen and a set of key associated gear shall be exempted from primary customs responsibility and well being cess for 3 months “with immediate effect”.
The choice was introduced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a gathering to evaluate steps taken to spice up oxygen availability. The Centre additionally held a gathering with all states and directed them to evaluate present infrastructure in gentle of the every day caseload, fatality and requirement for hospitalisation.
“PM was briefed that basic customs duty was exempted on Remdesivir and its API recently. It was suggested that import of equipment related to providing oxygen to patients needs to be expedited,” the PMO stated in a press release.
The exemptions cowl oxygen-linked gear: cryogenic street transport tanks; concentrator together with stream meter, regulator, connectors and tubing; storage tanks; cylinders together with cryogenic cylinders and tanks; non-invasive air flow nasal masks for ICU ventilators; filling programs; Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) vegetation; and every other system from which oxygen could be generated.
The choice got here hours after IAF planes started airlifting cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore.
In the Centre’s assembly chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, the states have been suggested to implement a multi-pronged plan for augmentation of beds:
Identify extra devoted Covid hospitals and put together subject amenities both via DRDO and CSIR, or different private and non-private companies.
Set up centralised name centre-based service for mattress allocation.
Strengthen ambulance service with extra deployment for districts with deficit infrastructure.
Step up the creation of in-house oxygen vegetation in massive hospitals.
The Centre additionally directed states to keep up a real-time report for accessible beds and make the data public. It requested states to supply telemedicine amenities for sufferers remoted at dwelling, and guarantee availability of intensive care beneath educated docs.
The Centre additionally supplied particulars of beds beneath the management of its departments. Specifically, the states got particulars of the provision of three,816 coaches throughout 16 zones of the Railways for delicate instances.
They have been directed to coordinate with National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for repurposing healthcare amenities, unfold throughout 18 regional workplaces, for creation of amenities.