Infrastructure including medical-grade oxygen generation to effectively face the possible ‘third wave’ is being created in the district, Minister for Industries Thangam Thennarasu has said.
He was speaking to reporters here on Friday after inaugurating a COVID-19 treatment centre with 180 beds in the presence of Speaker M. Appavu at Gandhimathi Higher Secondary School near Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, which also acts as triaging and COVID Care Centre with 200 more beds.
He said COVID Care Centres and oxygen-supported beds were being created even as positivity rate of the district had come down from 30% to 10% and the number of COVID-19 positive patients under treatment stood at 240. In all, Tirunelveli district had 2,711 beds including 980 beds in the COVID Care Centres to treat positive patients.
Steps had been taken to augment medical-grade oxygen generation by establishing a plant in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project site and a private plant at Sethurayanpudhur. Moreover, all possible help had been extended to expedite oxygen generation in another private plant at SIPCOT Industrial Promotion Centre in Gangaikondan.
“We expect these plants will start oxygen generation within 10 days,” he informed.
On the inordinate delay in the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, he said 13,19,234 persons had been identified as beneficiaries in Tirunelveli district where 1,54,500 had already received the vaccines.
“Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, after writing to the Centre for shipping a huge quantity of vaccines to Tamil Nadu, is still awaiting a reply from the Centre for giving on lease the Integrated Vaccine Complex at Chengalpattu to Tamil Nadu,” he noted.
He said the Centre’s announcement about the establishment of a museum at Adichanallur with the artefacts collected there should be translated into action.
The COVID-19 treatment centre inaugurated at Gandhimathi Higher Secondary School on Friday has 180 beds including 75 oxygen-supported beds, 20 beds for the children and 10 zero-delay beds.
Collector V. Vishnu, Tirunelveli MP S. Gnanathiraviam, Palayamkottai MLA M. Abdul Wahab and senior officials were present.
