To target the problem in transporting oxygen, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday, 27 April, that the Delhi government is importing 18 oxygen tankers from Bangkok, which will help Delhi swiftly transport oxygen from generation plants to hospitals.
Kejriwal said in a press conference that even though oxygen has been allotted by the Centre, there is a shortage of tankers due to which the Delhi government is facing problems in its transportation.
In view of this, he added, “The Delhi government has decided to import 18 tankers from Bangkok. They will reach tomorrow. We asked the Centre to provide IAF planes for this. Their response has been very positive and I am hoping this coordination will be successful.”
He added, “Once these tankers come, the problem in transporting oxygen will be sorted out and we will get the oxygen needed.”
Kejriwal further said that the state government is also importing 21 oxygen plants from France.
He explained, “These are ready to use plants and will be placed in different hospitals. This will solve a lot of our problems.”
CM Kejriwal asserted that in the next one month, Delhi will have 44 oxygen plants in different hospitals of the state. Of these, eight are being set up by the Centre. He said that though there were some delays in doing this, hopefully they will be up and running by 30 April.
Out of the other 36 oxygen generation plants, France will be providing 21 plants and Delhi will put up the remaining 15. He added that the Centre had also provided Delhi with five tankers to transport oxygen.
Plan to Add 1,200 ICU Beds
Kejriwal said that overloaded hospitals and the severe shortage of ICU beds is also being addressed. The central government had provided 500 ICU beds of DRDO near the airport, which he said were filled within three hours of opening.
The Delhi government plans to add 1,200 more ICU beds by 10 May. 500 beds will be put up in the ground outside GTB Hospital, 500 at Ramlila Maidan, in front of Lok Nayak Hospital and 200 beds at the Radha Soami Ground in Chhattarpur.
Kejriwal added that, “We are working with the Centre as well as with state governments and are getting help from everywhere. If we work together, there is no reason we cannot win over this.”
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