Fight against coronavirus: Govt distributed 2.02 crore N95 marks and 1.18 crore PPE to states for free

The government appreciated the domestic industry for manufacturing and supplying essential medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks and ventilators.

To fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the central government has distributed over 2.02 crore N95 marks and over 1.18 crore personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to states and Union Territories (UTs) free of cost since April 1. According to a statement from the Union health ministry on Friday, the centre has also distributed more than 6.12 crore hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets and 11,300 ‘Make in India’ ventilators.

The Union government along with states/UTs has been relentlessly working for prevention, containment and management of Covid-19, the statement said.

Also, the Union government has supplied 11,300 ‘Make in India’ ventilators to various states, UTs and central institution. Nearly 6,154 ventilators stand are already delivered to various hospitals. The government is ensuring installation/commissioning of these ventilators. “This will help bridge the massive gap in the availability of ventilators in Covid ICU facilities, said the statement.

The health ministry is also supplying 1.02 lakh oxygen cylinders to states/UTs; 72,293 oxygen cylinders have been delivered already, according to the statement.

So far, 7.81 lakh PPEs and 12.76 lakh N95 masks have been supplied in Delhi; 11.78 lakh PPEs and 20.64 N95 masks in Maharashtra; and 5.39 lakh PPEs and 9.81 lakh N95 masks in Tamil Nadu, the statement added.

Due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, there was a severe shortage of N95 masks in the initial phase. In March, the government had also banned exports of all kinds of masks to increase the availability of masks in the country. Thanks to manufacturers (they worked in full capacity and increase their production), India’s capacity to manufacture masks has gone up multifold and the country has now surplus masks, even for exports.

The government attributed the success to health, textiles, pharma ministries, DRDO and private industries. “The combined efforts of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and others,” has encouraged the domestic industry “to manufacture and supply essential medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators etc., during this period, the statement said. “With the result, resolve for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ has been strengthened and most of the supplies made by GOI are domestically manufactured, the statement added.

According to the industry estimate, India is now manufacturing nearly 6 lakh PPE kits and over 1.5 crore masks per day.