Steps were being taken to bring additional medical oxygen supply from other countries like Singapore and Dubai and other States like Delhi and Odisha to meet the demand for the gas in Madurai district, said Finance Minister P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan here on Friday.
He was addressing mediapersons, along with Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy, after inaugurating a Siddha COVID Care Centre at Yadava College in Thiruppalai.
He said a technical glitch at Sterlite Copper unit in Thoothukudi caused a temporary pause in production of oxygen. “When the supply from the unit reaches hospitals in Madurai it will help in resolving the issue of oxygen shortage,” Mr. Thiagarajan said, adding a separate war room was set up in Chennai to monitor oxygen usage across the State.
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The lack of doctors and nurses was another issue. So, retired doctors, final year medical students and those who had studied medicine abroad but had not written an equivalent exam here would be temporarily called for COVID-19 duty, he added.
Stating that steps were being taken to ensure oxygen support and availability of ventilators, testing kits, anti-viral injections and tablets to meet the growing demand, Mr. Thiagarajan urged the public to strictly follow COVID-19 safety precautions and avoid leaving home unnecessarily.
Mr. Moorthy said the government was taking all-out efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
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District COVID-19 Monitoring Officer B. Chandra Mohan, Collector T. Anbalagan and Madurai Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan were also present.
The Ministers also inspected the war room functioning at the Collectorate where 15 nurses would provide medical consultation through telephone to COVID-19 patients in home isolation.