Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the total quota of oxygen to 300 metric tonnes (MT), and ensure urgent supplies of vaccine for the state, which has been facing shortage on both counts. The Chief Minister raised these issues when PM Modi called him up to discuss the state`s COVID-19 situation and the measures being taken to tackle the crisis. For the 45 plus age group, too, the vaccine doses were in short supply, and while 1.63 lakh doses were expected to come today, these were not enough to meet the state`s requirement, he added. The state has a high mortality count, and hospitalisation in Level II and III facilities (both government and private) has seen a sharp surge over the past three weeks, pushing up the oxygen demand. Further, only four oxygen tankers have been allocated to Punjab, of which two are yet to be made functional.

Source: dna May 09, 2021 14:03 UTC