Capt Amarinder Singh asks PM Narendra Modi for more oxygen

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9

With the daily Covid cases breaching the 4 lakh mark for the third straight day and daily deaths touching 4,092 on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled the Chief Ministers of four high-burden states even as the national capital went into another lockdown until May 17.

The PM spoke to the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttarakhand, the states that have been witnessing rising trends of Covid cases over the past fortnight. The case positivity rates continue to be more than 15 per cent in these states with Karnataka posting 29.9 per cent positivity, Bihar 18 and Punjab 17.5 per cent. Uttarakhand has been witnessing a spike in cases for a week now.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh urged the PM to increase the state’s oxygen quota and ensure urgent supplies of vaccines.

Capt Amarinder told the PM that Punjab was unable to initiate phase-III of the vaccination process for the 18-44 age group, but it would now begin in government hospitals from Monday following the delivery of one lakh doses. He also informed Modi that the state urgently required 300 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen.

The PM, official sources said, advised the CMs to consider local micro-containment as advised by experts who have said all districts with more than 10 per cent positivity and more than 60 per cent oxygen and ICU bed capacity must be locked down for two weeks to ease the health systems and buy time to prepare and recoup.

Delhi, meanwhile, went into the fourth lockdown today with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announcing stricter curbs, including suspension of Delhi Metro and ban on weddings in public places. Weddings with 20 people will be allowed only at home and courts and banquet hall and hotel owners would need to either return advance payments for bookings or adjust these for later times.

Kejriwal said the lockdown had helped reduce Delhi’s case positivity rate from 35 per cent on April 26 to 23 per cent today, but cases were still too high to be managed. He said the oxygen crisis was easing.

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