No Deaths Due To Lack Of Oxygen In Madhya Pradesh, Says Minister

Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishvas Kailash Sarang claimed that no deaths have been reported in the state due to lack of oxygen supply. During NDTV's Solutions Summit, he said that oxygen is being made available to all the hospitals amid rising COVID-19 cases.

"Oxygen tankers are given the status of ambulances in Madhya Pradesh, and we have created a green corridor for making oxygen available to hospitals," the minister said.

"This is a pandemic, there will be challenges, but we are working on the solutions that are required," he added.

After reports that more than 800 injections of Remdesivir drug, which is in high demand for treating COVID-19 patients, were found "stolen" from the stock of the government-run Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Mr Sarang said the state will formulate a solution by this evening over the stocks.

"We think we will recover the stocks. We have made all possible efforts to prevent this from happening," he said.

Over rising number of deaths due to coronavirus across the state and reports of discrepancy in official data, the minister denied that the government is hiding any figures.

"The Madhya Pradesh government has no intention and has not passed any order to conceal any figures," he claimed.

"We are conducting funeral of Covid positive patients and of suspected cases with all Covid protocols in place. Hence, if you go to a cremation ground and count the bodies being cremated, you get the impression that they all belong to corona patients," the minister said.

However, the bodies are of Covid positive patients as well as of those who were suspected to have been infected, Mr Sarang alleged. "This explains that difference."

The minister said "we should all work together" to end the pandemic.