Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas on Saturday said that the government was doing its best to check the black marketing of Remdesivir injections and protect the lives of the people affected by the second wave of COVID-19.
At a review meeting with the officials of various wings of the district administration involved in containing the pandemic spread, MPs (Tirupati, Chittoor and Rajampeta), MLAs, and MLCs in Tirupati, Mr. Srinivas said the task force would function round the clock to check black marketing of the injections. The vials would be made available to all the government hospitals.
The Minister appealed to the medical and paramedical staff to curtail wastage of oxygen in view of its acute shortage. To overcome the shortage, as many as 200 oxygen concentrators were set up in the State, he said, and asked the private hospitals under the Aarogyasri network to compulsorily set aside 50% of the beds for COVID-19 patients.
‘Improve bed strength’
He also directed the authorities to enhance the number of beds at the COVID Care Centres and hospitals in view of the rising number of positive cases.
Referring to the appeal of the health workers at SVRR Government Hospital that they had not been paid salary for long, Mr. Srinivas asked the district authorities to immediately look into the matter.
Minister for Panchayat Raj P. Ramachandra Reddy asked the officials to ensure speeding declaration of the test results. Due to unprecedented spike in cases, sufficient beds were being readied. The nine government hospitals were equipped with 2,874 beds and 294 ventilators. By setting up 17 triage centres, the spread of virus, particularly in the rural areas, had been tackled effectively, he said.
Deputy Chief minister K. Narayanaswamy said people should cooperate with the district officials in fighting the pandemic. The police could play a vital role in bringing awareness among people on the need to adhere to the protocols.