Oxygen bed infrastructure being ramped up to treat rise in cases

There is no shortage of oxygen, beds and drugs, says L-G

PUDUCHERRY, 06 May 2021: Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, inspecting the oxygen plant at Government General Hospital in Puducherry on Thursday. Photo: KUMAR SS / The Hindu

Oxygen bed infrastructure in hospitals is being increased to cope with the increased demand from coronavirus patients requiring medical oxygen support, Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Thursday.

Addressing the media after inspecting an oxygen production plant at the Government General Hospital, Ms. Soundararajan said oxygen beds would be arranged additionally in many makeshift hospitals.

The plan is to upgrade small hospitals and improve the beds with oxygen. Private medical colleges have already allocated 300 beds each to the government. Currently, there are 100 more oxygen beds that have arranged with the help of the government. There is no shortage of oxygen, beds and drugs in the Union Territory, the Lt. Governor said.

She pointed out that the Indira Gandhi Medical College had been upgraded from 300 beds with oxygen facilities to 659 beds. Similarly, there are 100 beds in the Government Dental College, 160 beds in the Chest Hospital, 100 beds in the Government General Hospital and 100 beds in private hospitals equipped with oxygen facility.

While 1,276 beds were already equipped with oxygen, another 800 beds were currently being built with oxygen. Besides, 50 beds in Karaikal and 20 beds each in Mahe and Yanam were being equipped with oxygen.

The Lt. Governor said health workers would be given an incentive of ₹5 crore, taking into account the tireless efforts of doctors, nurses and healthcare staff for well over a year now.

Medical students were involved in the task of monitoring those isolated at home. Bed facilities had been increased to accommodate those admitted to hospitals. A total of 40 metric tonnes of oxygen were available from Inox. “For now, this is adequate,” she said.

The Lt. Governor stressed the point that though facilities and manpower could be augmented, ultimately the coronavirus could be controlled only with the cooperation of the people. Resources can be quickly depleted if the people do not adopt COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

Pointing out that about 60% of those infected with the virus last week were in the 30 to 50 years age segments, she said this was a singular feature of the second wave. She appealed to the youth to not venture out unnecessarily.

Advisers to the Lt. Governor C. Chandramouli and A.P. Maheshwari, Health Secretary T. Arun, and other officials were present.