A team of officers, under Niti Aayog member Dr V K Paul, had suggested the Centre to take urgent measures to ensure there is enough oxygen to meet the requirement of nearly 3 lakh new COVID-19 infections a day by April 20, said a report.
Not just that, the same panel, ten days ago, also informed the authorities that they should make oxygen arrangements for 5 lakh new cases by the end of April, the report mentioned.
The Empowered Group of Officers on "medical infrastructure and COVID-19 management plan", had also recommended “extraordinary measures to ramp up oxygen provision” under a "Plan B" to meet an increase of 6 lakh new cases a day,
The Indian Express reported.
The numbers anticipated by the empowered group 1 are already proving to be true. India has recorded over 300,000 new cases of COVID19 for several days in a row even as the country's health infrastructure faces a severe strain due to the lack of basic facilities such as beds, oxygen and ventilators. On Sunday, India registered a mammoth 354,531 fresh infections, taking the total number of cases to 17,306,300.
The country logged its highest-ever single-day death toll of 2,806 in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases in India stands at 2.8 million now. Several states have reported the shortage of oxygen and beds as people ran pillar to post to save their loved ones.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal on Sunday extended the citywide lockdown by another week, considering the present COVID-19 situation in the national capital. The city registered 22,933 new cases and 350 deaths in the last 24 hours.
"We will have to watch the situation for a few more days, whether the cases decrease or increase," he said. He said that the Delhi government has started a portal that will be updated every two hours by oxygen manufacturers, suppliers, and hospitals for better management of oxygen supply.
"The Centre has increased Delhi's quota from 480 tonnes to 490 tonnes per day. But, we are yet to receive the full quota. Currently, only 330-335 tonnes per day supply are being received by us," he said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra continues to face a challenging situation vis-a-vis COVID19 after it clocked another 66,191 fresh infections, slightly lower than yesterday's 67,160. The death numbers remain frightening. The state reported the loss of another 832 lives to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
First Published: Apr 26, 2021 1:26 PM IST
