Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy on Friday underscored the need for the government and the private sector to join hands to tackle the current pandemic ravaging the country.
“We have a huge population and limited healthcare facilities unlike the advanced nations of United States or Europe. This is the reality, therefore, we need to join forces to control this health crisis,” he said, during a visit to the free COVID treatment facility at the Durgabhai Deshmukh Hospital in Vidyanagar on Friday.
The facility is being run with the help of Seva Bharati and Sakhsham with help of sponsors from May 20 with 64 of the 87 patients admitted already discharged. The Minister claimed that the Centre has managed to solve the oxygen crisis within a fortnight and more oxygen plants are being set up across the country, including those already established at Gandhi Hospital and TIMS here.
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Around 50,000 ventilators are also being made available. Plans have been put in place to make available up to 200 crore doses of vaccine in the country with Bharat Biotech being given an advance payment of ₹1,500 crore. He also took the opportunity to urge citizens not to get alarmed about any ‘third wave’ on the horizon and giving credence to such rumours would lead to panic among the people, he added.