Remark comes day after affidavit in SC urging Centre to raise oxygen allocation to state
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday said no hospital had suffered or Covid-19 patient died in the state due to shortage of oxygen during the second wave as the central government has been watching over Gujarat.
“The usage of oxygen has risen from 150 metric tonnes (MT) to 1100 MT. But we did not allow any of the Covid hospital to suffer from oxygen shortage. We have not let anyone die due to oxygen shortage in the hospitals. The government is daily monitoring the situation to ensure there is no shortage,” Rupani said after a review of the Covid-19 situation at Arsodiya village in Kalol taluka of Gandhinagar district Saturday. He said there were a total 18 Covid-affected patients at the village and currently only eight were undergoing treatment.
“There has been no incident in the state where a hospital has refused admission to a Covid patient and sent him back home due to oxygen shortage. The situation is under control,” he added.
His comments come a day after the Gujarat government Friday informed the Supreme Court that it has written to the central government for enhancement in oxygen allocation to the state to 1,400 MT by May 12 while admitting that it was unable to operationalise 11,500 additional beds for Covid-19 patients due to the shortage of the life-saving gas. The affidavit was filed by Chief Secretary Anil Mukim in the form of a status report on various aspects of pandemic management in the state. The Centre’s current allocation of oxygen to Gujarat is 975 MT.
On Saturday, interacting with media persons at Arsodiya, Rupani said, “As the BJP government is there at the Centre, Gujarat does not have to face any wrongdoing. The elders at the Centre are worrying about Gujarat. They are keeping a close eye on the state. I do not want to make a political statement, but if there was a Congress government at the Centre at this time, then wrongdoings against Gujarat would have only increased and Gujaratis would have been harassed.”
On testing
Gujarat, the CM said, has not decreased Covid-19 testing and has been conducting 1.38 lakh tests daily which is more than those conducted by states like Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, and West Bengal. “Our positivity rate in Gujarat is 8.5 per cent. This is an important figure which should not increase,” Rupani said.
Rupani added there were one lakh beds for Covid-19 patients in the hospitals and 1.2 lakh isolation beds in Covid care centres set up in rural areas.
During the interaction, Rupani said the district collectors have been given powers to appoint new doctors and nurses at Covid centres.
On lockdown
“Karnataka went for a lockdown. It has reporting 45,000 new Covid cases daily. In Gujarat, we had hit a peak of 14,500 (cases) and then declined to 12,000 daily cases. As it is there is partial lockdown in Gujarat under which education institutions, markets, cinema halls and auditoriums are closed, while religious, social and political programmes are banned. Every 15 days, we conduct a review and act in public interest,” he said.
“We are still prepared for the worst,” the CM said. The government will be meeting doctors and experts on Monday to tackle a possible third wave, he added.
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