Punjab CM orders shutdown of steel & iron industries to divert oxygen for medical use

Amid the scarcity of medical oxygen, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered the shutdown of operations at all steel and iron industries across the state on Friday to divert oxygen supplies for medical use. The order comes hours after six patients died in Amritsar due to a shortage of life-saving gas. Moreover, the CM has also ordered setting up control rooms at district levels to ensure a streamlined supply of oxygen to hospitals. On Friday, CM Amarinder Singh had also raised the issue of oxygen shortage in his state with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 16th PM-CM meeting since the Coronavirus outbreak. 

In Amritsar on late Friday night, 6 patients including 5 battling COVID-19 lost their lives due to the shortage of medical oxygen at Nellkanth Hospital. As per reports, the hospital authorities had apprised the district administration of the shortage two days ago. The hospital had also reportedly asked relatives of the patient to shift them to a different hospital due to the shortage of oxygen. Punjab Minister OP Soni has said that an inquiry committee has been set up to investigate the matter. 

Amarinder Singh alleges 'hijacking' of oxygen 

On Friday, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh claimed that his state's oxygen supplies which come from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are being "hijacked". Speaking at PM Modi's virtual meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation, Singh called upon the Centre to ensure the regular supply of oxygen quota allocated to Punjab. 

Seeking parity in the pricing of vaccines for the Centre and states, he sought permission from the Union government to use SDRF funds for the novel coronavirus inoculation. Mentioning that the vaccination in the last one week has been slightly low owing to an insufficient supply of doses, he revealed that the current stock can last only three days.

Moreover, the senior Congress leader also expressed concern over the lack of clarity on the number of vaccine doses to be made available by the Centre after May 1. On this occasion, Singh highlighted that the shortage and black marketing of medicines like Remdesivir are creating panic among the people. 

According to him, it was necessary to make people aware that these drugs are not "magic wands". At present, there are 40,584 active cases in Punjab while 2,70,946 patients have been discharged and 8189 fatalities have been recorded.