Tamil Nadu govt assures excessive court docket on the provision of oxygen, ventilators

The Tamil Nadu authorities Thursday knowledgeable the Madras High court docket that it has sufficient provide of oxygen and ventilators. The state authorities’s reply comes after the Madras High Court took suo motu discover of newspaper reviews on the scarcity of Remdesivir and ventilators within the state and diversion of oxygen from a metropolis plant to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy directed Vijay Narayanan, the advocate normal for Tamil Nadu, to get clear directions from the federal government to make sure that the state his dealing with the problem correctly.
In the second half of the day, AG Vijay Narayanan knowledgeable the court docket that Tamil Nadu is among the only a few states with no scarcity of ventilators at a time of dire want and the manufacturing is much forward of requirement. He additional added that there are about 9,600 ventilators of which 5,887 are earmarked for Covid-19 therapy and in non-public there about 6000 ventilators and three,000 of them have been earmarked for the therapy of the lethal viral.

The court docket stated if the state has ample assets, it must also be serving to different states as nicely. The court docket additional added that it’s going to submit the matter for additional listening to on Monday when the state is predicted to supply extra particulars on beds and vaccine availability.
Tamil Nadu authorities asserted that it has sufficient inventory of oxygen however would take up with the Centre the problem of diversion of about 45 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to neighbouring states.
Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan stated the state had been offering oxygen to its neighbouring states that are operating a deficit of medical oxygen. However, he stated the diversion initiated by the Centre mustn’t create any bother within the state in future and therefore, they might take up the problem with the Centre to make sure that the scenario is comfy for them sooner or later as nicely.
While rejecting the declare that some deaths on the Vellore hospital occurred as a result of lack of oxygen provide, Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar reaffirmed that the state has sufficient oxygen and vaccine provide and there’s no must panic. “The liquid medical oxygen manufacturing capacity is around 400 metric tonnes a day in Tamil Nadu and the daily medical consumption of oxygen is around 240 tonnes per day. We have a strong healthcare base here in Tamil Nadu. The state has a storage capacity of around 1,200 tonnes,” he advised reporters Wednesday.
He additionally added that there gained’t be a lot wastage of vaccines from May 1 because the Centre has allowed everybody above 18 years to get vaccinated. “Unlike states like Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat which are reporting high Covid-19 cases and have an acute shortage of oxygen cylinders, Tamil Nadu is well equipped with oxygen supply. There are 32,405 oxygen beds in Tamil Nadu and 6,504 oxygen beds in Chennai. There are 54,342 beds in Tamil Nadu to even deal with severe cases,” he added.
However, sufferers in a number of the districts with excessive Covid instances raised complaints about lack of beds. For occasion, in Chengalpet district, which had been reporting the second most variety of instances in Tamil Nadu after Chennai, there was a scarcity of beds for sufferers. Some sufferers have been made to attend contained in the ambulance close to the hospital for hours with oxygen help. Close to 75 of the oxygen beds in these districts (together with non-public hospitals) are occupied.
Some of the non-public hospitals with medium amenities are anticipating a shortage of oxygen. As per the information offered by the federal government on the provision of beds in non-public hospitals, the admission request is double the occasions the accessible beds. For occasion, a non-public hospital with 34 mattress amenities is having 72 sufferers in queue. The sufferers are made to attend for lengthy hours for his or her flip. Beds allotted for Covid-19 and suspected instances, oxygen-supported beds and ICU beds have been all occupied.

A senior physician from the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association stated the state has sufficient provide of beds and panic was brought on by a number of the sufferers, who wished to get admitted to the hospital regardless of having gentle signs.
“We have not reached the ‘deficit’ stage here in Tamil Nadu. Oxygen-supported beds are available in government hospitals. The state is planning to increase the facility as well. The anxiety of some of the patients causes much trouble to some of them in serious need. Those with lower oxygen levels and comorbidities are not getting admission. This forces the private hospitals to push the severe cases to government hospitals at the last moment which creates unnecessary tension and stress for doctors. Maybe the government can bring more awareness by displaying the availability of beds in a public domain and admit people on the basis of severity. Mild cases can be handled at home. People staying in health care centres should stay there. If this could be ensured, there will be less load of patients in hospitals. A possible tie-up between government and private hospitals will also curb the spread of the pandemic,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the opposition DMK and AMMK slammed the diversion of oxygen by the Centre. DMK president MK Stalin stated the Centre ought to have checked the scenario in Tamil Nadu with the federal government and charged it with not taking the states critically. AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran stated the Centre’s resolution to divert the oxygen from Tamil Nadu with out consulting the state administration is just not acceptable.
(With inputs from PTI)