Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, 7 May, said that the oxygen situation in the capital was improving and that there should be no more deaths because of the shortage of the life-saving gas.
“Now that Delhi has received oxygen, no one in Delhi should suffer because of shortage of oxygen. All the hospitals in Delhi should increase their beds and every DM should arrange new oxygen beds in their districts so that no deaths happen due to lack of oxygen in Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
His remarks came at a high-level review meeting held over the COVID-19 situation in Delhi, at which he directed officials to address issues related to oxygen supply, vaccination, and food relief efforts in the capital.
Kejriwal also said that there should be no disruption in supply and that it should be used efficiently.
“We have to try to prevent oxygen wastage and save as much oxygen as we can. If we can, we should save oxygen and return it to the central government so that it can be used somewhere else,” the CM said on Friday.
The Supreme Court on Friday said the Centre has to supply 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi every day till further orders. A bench, comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that an order for the same had been passed.
“We mean business. Please don’t force us to be in a situation where we have to be firm,” Justice Chandrachud told Mehta, reported LiveLaw.
On Thursday, Kejriwal had stated that his administration “won’t let anyone die” of oxygen shortage if the capital receives its daily requirement of 700 tonnes of oxygen supply every day from the Centre.
"If we get an adequate supply of oxygen – 700 tonnes – we will be able to set up 9,000-9,500 beds in Delhi. We shall be able to create oxygen beds. I assure you that we shall not let anyone die to a shortage of oxygen in Delhi," said the chief minister in his statement.
Vaccinate Everyone to Stop Another Wave
The chief minister also announced plans to vaccinate everyone in Delhi in the next three months, for which it would need to recruit retired doctors, nurses, and medical staff on a large scale.
“Whoever wants to help the society should join the government and contribute in this difficult situation,” he said.
“We will be able to stop the third wave of COVID in Delhi only by being able to administer vaccines to everyone in Delhi as soon as possible in the next three months.”Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
All district magistrates have been directed to make surprise visits to vaccination centres every day. They have also been instructed to visit hunger relief centres in their districts every day to ensure that the poor are not facing any problem with food and all facilities and treatment is available in shelter homes, old-age homes, and orphanages.
Free Vaccination for Media Houses
Meanwhile, the Delhi government also announced on Friday that it will organise a mass COVID vaccination drive for all media houses – electronic, digital and print – in the national capital.
The government will organise the vaccination drive at the offices of media houses and bear the cost of vaccination, ANI reported.
On 16 April, Kejriwal had said that the Delhi government is writing to the Centre asking them to vaccinate journalists on priority.
Kejriwal asserted that journalists have been reporting from adverse situations and should be treated as frontline workers.
Delhi on Friday recorded 19,832 fresh COVID-19 cases and 341 deaths in the last 24 hours.
(With inputs from ANI and LiveLaw.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)