Centre increases Karnataka’s allocation of oxygen, Remdevisir as Covid second wave intensifies

A day after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa stressed that Karnataka needs 1,471 tonnes of medical oxygen daily and two lakh Remdevisir vials within 10 days, the Centre has increased the allocation by 55 and 60 per cent respectively.

In a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister had highlighted that the situation in the state was grim. “The Centre has allocated only 300 tonnes of oxygen to the state. Several healthcare facilities will have to be shut if the situation continues,” he had said.

The Centre’s allocation to the state, as confirmed by Yediyurappa in a tweet, is 800 metric tonnes of medical oxygen and 1.22 lakh vials of Remdesivir. “I thank PM @narendramodi , Home Min @AmitShah & Union Min @DVSadanandGowda for increasing Karnataka’s allocation of Remdesivir fm 50,000 to 1,22,000 till Apr 30 & daily oxygen allocation fm existing 300 MT to 800 MT as per my request. This will strengthen our fight against Covid19,” he tweeted.

After detailed review of statewise allotment of #Remdesivir with @Pharmadept, substantial increase has been made in overall production & allotment to all states.

This will make country’s fight stronger against #COVID19.

State-wise allocation of #Remdesivir upto April 30, 2021👇 pic.twitter.com/wGelmAOUmL

— Sadananda Gowda (@DVSadanandGowda) April 24, 2021

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According to a state-wise list released by Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers Sadananda Gowda, Karnataka is among the states that have been allocated the most Remdesivir vials across the country, till April 30. Maharashtra is expected to get 4.35 lakh vials of the anti-viral drug used to treat critically ill Covid-19 patients, while Gujarat (1.65 lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (1.61 lakh) are other states that will get a major share among other states. In total, 16 lakh vials will be allocated to 36 states and union territories till the end of this month, as per the official list.

“After detailed review of statewise allotment of #Remdesivir with @Pharmadept, substantial increase has been made in overall production & allotment to all states,” Gowda tweeted.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru reported a record number of Covid-19 fatalities for the second consecutive day on Saturday as 149 more succumbed due to the infection in the Karnataka capital.

The death toll crossed the 1,000-mark within a month for the first time since the Covid 19 crisis began in March 2020. While Karnataka has reported 1,716 deaths so far in April, 1093 of them were from the capital city alone.

The state is in a partial lockdown till May 4 with a near-total lockdown on the weekends in an effort to control a crisis. As on Saturday, the active caseload in the state is at 2.34 lakh while 1.62 lakh of them are in Bengaluru. The state capital has been reporting over 15,000 Covid-19 positive cases daily over the last few days.