CM Stalin to inaugurate new oxygen beds in Chennai

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin will inaugurate 300 of the 800 oxygen-supported beds being readied at the Chennai Trade Centre on May 10. A senior official in the city corporation said the beds are being readied at the trade centre’s Covid Care Centre (CCC). “The chief minister will inaugurate 300 beds in the first phase on May 10. To this, 500 more will be added on May 23,” the official said. 

Officials said that instructions to ramp up the number of oxygen beds were given in the first week of May itself. “With the oxygen beds coming up, the CCC may also handle moderately ill patients too,” the official said. 

Relief amid the suffering

The city residents have been suffering from a lack of oxygen beds throughout the week. At any given time, at least 10 ambulances are seen waiting on the premises of the government tertiary hospitals like the Stanley GH, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, and the Omandurar GH. 

Some patients tried at least four hospitals before coming to the tertiary hospitals. Umapathy Raghu (55), who had come to admit his wife to the Stanley GH, said he was turned away by three private hospitals. 
Shortage of oxygen

Former MD of TN Medical Services Corporation, Dr P Umanath, who is now one of the secretaries to the CM, had informed the Madras High Court on May 6 that the State had oxygen only for two days. Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan had also informed the court that the Centre had not released the revised central-oxygen-allocation plan for Tamil Nadu. 

It diverted the State’s oxygen to neighbouring states. Because of this, the HC had urged the Centre to take steps to ensure uninterrupted supply of oxygen to the State. Meanwhile, deans of top tertiary hospitals in the city held discussions with Health Minister Ma Subramanian. Also, the Chief Minister held discussions with the collectors and urged them to strictly enforce Covid-19 protocols.