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Ashok Gehlot urged the private hospitals to increase their oxygen and ICU bed capacities and make beds available for critical patients.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that when required the critical patients of COVID-19 can get free treatment in the state’s private hospitals.

During a review meeting held at Gehlot’s residence today, he said that adequate arrangements for beds with oxygen supply have been made available in the government hospitals.

If more beds are needed despite this, private hospitals would be consulted and enlisted.

In this regard, the district collector will be able to arrange free treatment for the critically ill patients in the private hospitals under the prescribed rates by the government.

Urging the private hospitals to increase their oxygen and ICU bed capacities, Ashok Gehlot said that the DC’s should ensure that the private hospitals tie up with the hotel operators to make the beds available for asymptomatic patients so that the beds are available in the hospital for critical patients.

India’s coronavirus cases have reached 34 lakh mark and experts are anticipating that the new surge in the cases since a week represents the second wave of the virus in the country.

However, India is still among the lowest hit countries in terms of death though the death rate is also soaring in the country.

The WHO has made it clear that the widespread distribution of the coronavirus vaccine to every country in the world would only be possible by the mid of 2021.

Recently, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has shown successful results in the human trials and the every person who was given the two shots of this vaccine has developed antibodies according to the experts.

Though the Sputnik V vaccine was initially criticized by experts in many countries, the antibody results have come as a blow to the critics.

India has ramped the testing facilities and is currently testing 6 lakh people for the virus which is also one of the reasons for the surge in the number of cases.

India is confident of producing vaccines with completed trials by the end of this year. India has 3 vaccine candidates at three different stages of the human trials and all the trials are expected to be completed in the month of November this year.

By Gayatri Yellayi