Need more anti-viral drugs and ventilators in Maha, CM tells PM

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, while on Wednesday thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the resumption of local train services for frontline workers

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, while on Wednesday thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the resumption of local train services for frontline workers in Mumbai, demanded more ventilators and drugs like remdesivir and tocilizumab for the effective treatment of Covid-19 patients.

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Thackeray, who participated in the sixth video conference on the Covid-19 pandemic with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, requested the latter for these drugs at reasonable prices.

He said that the state has an adequate stock of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and N-95 masks, but it needs more ventilators, especially for rural areas.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said, “We have demanded supply of remdesivir and tocilizumab by the Centre at reasonable prices. We have been administering these drugs to some patients on compassionate grounds with permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). We have requested that the Centre make them available for all patients at reasonable prices. We have also demanded for the supply of 500 ventilators for Mumbai and other parts of the state. Maharashtra has adequate number of other beds, but we lag in ICU beds with ventilators.”

Thackeray apprised the PM with the steps taken by the state government in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and also told him how Maharashtra has struck a balance between the lockdown norms and rolling out economic activities.

The Maharashtra CM also said that its “chase the virus” policy has helped in containing the spread in many hotspots, including Dharavi in Mumbai.

He also said that Maharashtra has set up facilities with a cumulative strength of 3 lakh beds to treat Covid-19 patients and has robust infrastructure of 282 dedicated Covid hospitals, 434 dedicated Covid health centres and 1631 dedicated Covid centres.

PM Modi said during the VC that the reports about the re-imposition of the lockdown were rumours and the government would speak only about unlocking (the lockdown). PM said though crowding and violation of the lockdown was a serious problem, the country has successfully fought against the pandemic. He said the high recovery rate was the result of the collective efforts.

The CM told Modi that 60,000 industrial units in the state have gone operational with 15 lakh workers reporting back to the work. He said that 5.15 lakh workers are working under the employment guarantee scheme on a daily-wages basis.

“Maharashtra government has decided to promote students from non-professional courses on the basis of their grades in the previous terms as conducting exams in the near future was not possible for us. Centre should take a cautious and uniform decision related to the exams of professional and non-professional courses,” Thackeray said in the conference. He also has demanded for the Centre’s intervention in crop loans by nationalised banks. He has sought an extension of three months to Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.