Assam to import oxygen from Bhutan
HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 25: Assam government has made arrangements to import oxygen from neighbouring Bhutan, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.
As directed by health minister, minister of state for health, Pijush Hazarika along with Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary visited the under-construction oxygen plant located at Samdrup Jangkhar inside Bhutan on Sunday.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, Hazarika said, “In these challenging pandemic times this plant is believed to be of immense help in winning the fight against Covid-19. On its completion, it will be able to provide Assam with 50 MT of oxygen per day.”
There will be no shortage of Remdesivir as the state government urged drug manufacturer Sun Pharma to expedite the production at its Palasbari plant to 80,000 vials per week, Sarma told reporters in Nalbari.
“Regarding oxygen, we have moved ahead. There is a new oxygen plant being set up in Bhutan. Today, we have made arrangements to procure oxygen from there,” Sarma said.
Sarma further said that the Assam government was not aware of an oxygen plant in Dimapur in Nagaland, and now it will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the neighbouring state for procurement.
“The oxygen level that we are able to manage, I think there will not be any problem until several thousand patients arrive at the hospitals,” he added.
Sarma visited Sun Pharma’s Palasbari plant near Guwahati during the day.
“We have good news. We were searching for Remdesivir across the world. I did not know that Remdesivir was being manufactured in Assam. When I visited the Sun Pharma plant at Palasbari this morning, I came to know that 80,000 Remdesivirs can be produced every week in Assam,” he added.
He requested the company to scale up the production to ensure that there is no shortage in the state.
“ICU beds have also been ramped up. I believe we will be able to manage the Covid-19 crisis very fast like last year,” Sarma said.
When asked about the possibility of lockdown in Assam, he said there is no necessity for any such drastic step at this moment.
“When do we announce a lockdown? It is done when there is no oxygen, injection, medicine, kit in hospitals, then we get temporary relief by implementing lockdown. There is a lockdown in Delhi because the Delhi CM himself said there is no oxygen.
“But, everything is there in Assam as of now. So, there is no need for thinking about a lockdown. The way we are managing the things, I think the chance of lockdown in Assam is extremely rare,” the minister said.
The total closure of educational institutions in the state will be decided after May 2, he said.
“I hope the crisis will be over in the next 10-15 days. Since the Remdesivir vials will be produced at Palasbari, we will get a sufficient number of vials,” he said in tweet.
The minister also said the state government will provide support to private hospitals and nursing homes for setting up of their own units.
The government has installed eight oxygen plants, producing 5.25 metric tonnes of oxygen per day, in five medical colleges of the state, the minister said.
Three units producing 2.13 MT per day, have been set up in Gauhati Medical College Hospital, two units, producing 1.24 MT at Jorhat Medical College Hospital and one unit each, producing 0.62 metric tonnes, at Tezpur, Barpeta and Diphu Medical Colleges, he said.
Five more units are in the process of being installed and two more units will become operational in the next few days, he added.
The minister, who held a meeting with the owners of private nursing homes and hospitals on Saturday night, urged them to set up their own oxygen units and offered unlimited support from the government’s end. (With PTI input)