PM Modi to review Oxygen availability in July 9 meeting ahead of possible third wave

As India continues to battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will chair a high-level meeting to review the augmentation and availability of medical oxygen across the country at 11:30 am. It is important to mention here that this latest announcement of the Prime Minister chairing a high-level meeting comes at a time when India is gearing up for the possible third wave of COVID-19. During the second wave of the pandemic, India has faced an extreme oxygen crisis. 

PM Modi calls for a high-level meeting today

Therefore, during this high-level meeting being charged by PM Modi, decisions are expected to be taken to ensure that there is no oxygen crisis in the country in the upcoming days. Not only this, in an attempt to boost the country's efforts to tackle the current pandemic situation, the newly appointed PM Modi Cabinet had earlier announced a 20,000 crore COVID-19 relief package of Rs 23, 123 crores for improvement in the health infrastructure. 

Modi Cabinet 2.0 announces 20,000 crore COVID-19 relief aid

After a major reshuffle in Union Cabinet, the Central Government has now taken another huge step towards health infrastructure by announcing a Rs 23,123-crore package for improving the healthcare system of the country to fight COVID-19. The decision was taken on Thursday (July 8) in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the phase 2 announcement of the 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package'.

Aiming for a significant improvement in necessary arrangements like pediatric care units to ICU beds, oxygen storage, ambulances, and medicines, this action has been executed. According to the data provided by the Central Government, the relief has been announced for two major components- Central Sector (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). 

Current COVID-19 situation in India

As the country continues to grapple with the pandemic, India has so far recorded over 3,07,52,950 positive cases, out of which, 2,98,88,284 have successfully recovered and 4,05,939 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the last 24 hours, 43,393 new cases, 44,459 fresh recoveries and 911 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 4,58,727. 

(Image: Unsplash- Fusion Medical Animation, PTI)