With 400 functional oxygen plants, Uttar Pradesh is moving towards becoming “self-reliant” in oxygen generation, the state government said on Friday. A total of 555 oxygen plants were sanctioned by the UP government during the disastrous second wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic when oxygen shortages were reported from several states. While 400 oxygen plants have already been set up, work to get the other 155 plants functional is “going on a war-footing”, according to the UP government.
“12 more oxygen plants have become functional in the last 4 days. The process of establishing the remaining under-construction plants should be completed in a time-bound manner,” Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said at a high-level review meeting on the Covid-19 situation across the state.
In order to ensure the availability of medical oxygen at Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs), oxygen plants will be made mandatory in hospitals with a capacity of more than 50 beds. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government is monitoring the implementation of PSA medical oxygen plants announced by the Centre with funding from PM Cares, the chief minister’s office said.
“As many as twenty five oxygen plants were already functional in the state before the government took the step of constructing more to ensure the availability of sufficient amounts of medical oxygen,” the state government said in a release.
About 372 ITI trainees will be engaged in the operation of these oxygen plants to strengthen Covid Control Management and provide employment opportunities. Special training sessions for paramedical staff and pharmacists will be conducted to prepare them to fight the pandemic’s possible third wave.
{{/usCountry}}About 372 ITI trainees will be engaged in the operation of these oxygen plants to strengthen Covid Control Management and provide employment opportunities. Special training sessions for paramedical staff and pharmacists will be conducted to prepare them to fight the pandemic’s possible third wave.
{{/usCountry}}The test positivity rate in Uttar Pradesh has slumped to lower than 0.01% as only 10 samples out of 2,30,740 tested in the last 24 hours tested positive for Covid-19, according to the state government data. The active caseload, which once stood at 3,10,783 in April, has been reduced to 191, putting the recovery rate at 98.7%.