Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that with the Covid case load surging, his state will no longer be able to supply oxygen to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as was being done till now.
In a letter to Modi, Vijayan said the state produces 219 metric tonnes of oxygen and given its huge daily requirement, it is in no position to give this outside the state any more, and hence, it should be allowed to use it for its own needs.
The reserve stock of 450 tonnes of oxygen has now come down to 86 tonnes and with cases continuing to rise, Kerala should be given exemption with regards to oxygen supplies, he demanded.
Kerala presently has 423,000 active Covid cases, and the daily test positivity rate is also at its peak of 28 per cent and given the spike, the total number of active cases is likely to cross five lakh very soon.
Kerala on Monday received 350,000 doses of Covishield vaccineto combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
An Indigo regular flight carrying the Covishield vaccine landed at Cochin International Airport at 11.50 AM, a CIAL spokesman said.
The state government has placed an order for over one crore doses of vaccine to accelerate the vaccination drive in the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the COVID-19 vaccination drive for those in the age group of 18-45 would be prioritised in Kerala with people having comorbidities given preference.
"It has been informed that the State will get a small portion of doses this month. So, the vaccination drive for those in 18-45 will be prioritised," Vijayan has said.
He has said the state government would initiate steps to ensure the availability of enough vaccines and take the matter up with the Centre.
The Kerala High Court has also sought information from the Centre on the time-frame in which the state government would get its share of vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Monday appreciated the Kerala government for fixing the rates which are to be levied by the private health care sector when treating Covid patients.
The appreciation was made by the court while hearing a petition on the way the private health care sector was fleecing Covid patients and the state government informed the court that they have come out with the rates that can be charged.
The state government has also informed the court, all the violators will be charged under the Clinical Establishment Act and the fine would be 10 times the additional charges that have been levied.
According to the new set of prescribed rates from now on the private sector can for a patient in the general ward charge only Rs 2,645 daily while for a NABH accredited hospital, it can charge Rs 2,910.
Likewise the daily rates for the ICU would be Rs 7,800 and for NABH accredited hospital it will be Rs 8,580 and for those who require ventilator facility in the ICU, the daily rates will be Rs 13,800 and Rs 15,180.
The treatment protocol has also made it clear that in a day the PPE Kits that can be billed shall be two in general wards per day and 5 per ICU bed per day and the rates shall not exceed the MRP declared by the manufacturer.
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