Finance Minister P. T. R. P. Thiagarajan and Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy inaugurated an oxygen generator plant at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here on Sunday.
The plant, costing ₹32.50 lakh, was sponsored by Rotary Club of Madurai West. The plant can generate 200 litres per minute. Addressing mediapersons after the inauguration, Mr. Thiagarajan said that after the DMK government took charge, the Chief Minister had instructed to take measures on a war-footing to contain the spread of COVID-19 across the State.
At that time, the oxygen supply was highly insufficient in hospitals in Madurai. “There was a night when there was an acute shortage in supply of oxygen to the GRH. We took efforts to solve the problem at a close call. At that time, we had promised that the situation will be changed to ensure the availability of sufficient oxygen in the district,” said Mr. Thiagarajan.
So, initially oxygen tankers were brought in from other States through trains. Then enquiries were made about oxygen generators being used at hospitals in other States. So, currently the GRH has three sources of oxygen. First is the supply of liquid oxygen, oxygen generator plants and oxygen concentrators.
Even if there was a third wave, there would not be such a grave oxygen shortage. He said that joint efforts of the officials helped in bringing down COVID-19 cases in Madurai to below 100.
Delta Plus variant
When asked about cases of Delta Plus variant of coronavirus, the Minister said that the government currently has access to only one laboratory for performing genome sequencing. “We are planning to get necessary devices to perform the genome sequencing in the State,” he added.
The committee set up for monitoring fees charged in private hospitals has so far helped in refunding money to patients in 12 cases in Madurai district. In another case, a hospital was denied permission to treat COVID-19 patients, he added.
Rotary Club of Madurai West president L. Ramanathan, past president T. Ravee, and secretary M. Balasubramanian were present.