Siddaramaiah says 'Oxygen produced in Karnataka must be reserved for state' amid shortage

In the wake of raging COVID-19 figures, Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah on Wednesday remarked that the oxygen which is produced in the State should be reserved for State only, amid the acute oxygen crisis faced by the country due to the rampant surge in COVID-19 cases. 

The Congress leader declared that the Central government has allocated oxygen quota to Karnataka which is less than 50 per cent of the State's demand. He took to his official Twitter account to claim the same, he posted as follows, 

He also mentioned in the Tweet threads ahead that he has discussed with Chief Secretary & Principal Secretary of Karnataka Health Department regarding oxygen shortage. She claimed to have asked them to ensure seamless supply of oxygen to while they have assured to have already taken necessary actions. 

Siddaramaiah also urged the Prime Minister to icrease oxygen supply to Karntaka basis actual demand. The government of Karnataka on Wednesday set up a Commission of Inquiry to probe into the death of 24 patients at a district hospital in Chamarajanagar reportedly due to dearth of medical oxygen at hospital. The State government has ordered for a judicial investigaton regarding oxygen at  hospital. Siddaramaiah expressed his alignment with State government about this matter and said that the 'guilty should be punished'. He also said, 

"I also urge the government to initiate a judicial investigation regarding deaths reported in Kolar, Bengaluru, etc due to oxygen shortage."

Amid unprecedented upsurge in COVID-19 infections nationwide, the Centre asked the States to treat available oxygen as a critical commodity. The rate of rise of the infection has been rapid, which has put immense strain on the health infrastructure. This surfaced after India was witnessing devastating ordeals owing to COVID-19 while a dislocated medical infrastructure had left people to struggle to breathe. COVID-19 patients admitted at hospitals have succumbed to the virus due to the inadequate supply of medical oxygen to hospitals in various cities. 

COVID-19 tally 

Karnataka on Wednesday reported  single highest day spike in both COVID-19 cases and fatalities since outbreak of the pandemic 50,112 infections and 346 deaths. This stretched the total caseload to nearly 17.5 lakh and the fatalities to 16884 Bengaluru alone accounted for 23,106 infections and 161 fatalities. The day also saw 26,841 people getting discharged.

Cumulatively, 17,41,046 positive cases have been confirmed in Karnataka, which includes 16,884 deaths and 12,36,854 discharges, the bulletin said. Active cases stood at 4,87,288.