Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has ordered the use of ₹50 crore from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) for procuring RT-PCR kits. As of Sunday, ₹181 crore had been collected in the CMPRF.
An unprecedented 1.6 lakh RT-PCR tests are conducted in a day, an official release said.
It may be recalled that the Chief Minister had already ordered that ₹25 crore be used to source Remdesivir and other life-saving drugs for the State, and another ₹25 crore for liquid oxygen for hospitals in Tamil Nadu from other States.
Earlier this month, Mr. Stalin had appealed to the people and corporates to donate generously to the CMPRF to help the State government fight the pandemic.
To know how to donate to the CMPRF, click the following link: http://bit.ly/ mkstalinrequest
Donations to fund
Matrimony.com has donated ₹50 lakh to CMPRF. Its founder and CEO Murugavel Janakiraman presented the cheque to Mr. Stalin at the Secretariat on Sunday.
In a release, the company said it had earlier donated ₹20 lakh to the State Disaster Management Fund and the Rotary Club for donating non-invasive ventilators.
The WHO has donated 100 oxygen concentrators to the newly-formed COVID-19 care centre at the Government Hospital in Saidapet.
K.N. Arun Kumar, sub-regional team leader, Chennai, WHO, gave the oxygen concentrators to Mr. Stalin in Saidapet. Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian was present.