Good Samaritans help needy while leaders busy in ‘politics’

Social activist Gaurav Rai, popularly known as ‘Oxygen Man’ installs cylinders for the patients who are home-quarantined due to COVID-19, in Patna, Bihar, on Friday. PIC/PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a virtual a meeting with chief ministers of worst-hit states to take stock of the COVID-19 situation. But the meeting snowballed into a controversy, with the Centre accusing the Delhi chief minister of playing politics by live streaming his interaction with the PM. Arvind Kejriwal had raised the issue of massive oxygen shortage in Delhi and said that the Centre should take over all oxygen plants through the Army.

"His entire speech was not meant for any solution but for playing politics and evading responsibility. All chief ministers spoke about what they are doing to improve the situation but he had nothing to say on what he is doing," a source told PTI.

His office later issued a statement, stating that there has never been any instruction on sharing the interaction. "However, if any inconvenience was caused we highly regret that."

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Centre diverted the medical oxygen supply meant for West Bengal to Uttar Pradesh.

Amid all the political drama happening amid the rapid surge in cases, deaths and severe shortage of oxygen, good Samaritans are busy doing what is ideally the responsibility of the governments. People and social organisations across Delhi-NCR are giving a new lease of life to COVID-19 patients.

Inderjeet Singh Monty, president of Mayapuri Trading Association, told PTI, "We have been helping hospitals and people with free oxygen supply from a Mayapuri plant for the past five days now. Everyday over 500-600 people come here to get their oxygen cylinders refilled."

A gurudwara in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram has opened an "oxygen langar" for COVID-19 patients and promises to supply oxygen in its premises to them till the time they don't find a bed in hospital. They have also launched a helpline number for people book oxygen cylinder.

In Bihar, Patna resident Gaurav Rai is on a mission to save as many lives as he can. Known as the ‘oxygen man', Rai provides oxygen to the critically ill patients for free. "In the second wave, 365 cylinders have been provided to those in extreme need of these in Patna itself," he told PTI. Rai, 52, who works in a private firm engaged in the manufacture of high-security number plates for cars in Patna, and his wife Aruna Bhardwaj operate an ‘oxygen bank' with over 250 cylinders of 10 kg each.

Help is coming: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Railways and Air Force are being deployed to reduce the transportation time for oxygen tankers and all state governments need to work together to meet requirements of life-saving gas and medicines.

Also, the defence ministry has decided to airlift 23 mobile oxygen generating plants from Germany as several states reeled under an acute shortage of medical oxygen, officials said Friday. Each plant will have a capacity to produce 40 litres of oxygen per minute and 2,400 litres every hour.

Second wave could peak in mid-May

The second COVDI-19 wave in India may peak between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh total ‘active' cases and decline steeply by the end of May, according to a mathematical module devised by IIT scientists. They said that Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh might already have reached their peak in new cases.

Zydus's Virafin to be used for treatment

Zydus Cadila received emergency use approval from the Drugs Controller General of India on Friday for the use of ‘Virafin' - pegylated interferon alpha-2b (PegIFN) in treating moderate COVID-19 infection in adults. A single-dose subcutaneous regimen of the antiviral Virafin will make the treatment more convenient for the patients. When administered early on during COVID-19, Virafin will help patients recover faster and avoid much of the complications, the company said.

‘Task force didn't meet for over two months'

While India was inching closre to the Our leaders were busy preparing for the Assembly polls when COVID-19 cases had started to jump. According to a report in the Caravan, which quotes two members, the Centre did not hold even a single meeting of the task force in February and March. "It became abundantly clear in mid February that India was heading towards a devastating second wave," a member of the task force told the magazine. According to the report, the task force met last on January 11, and then on April 15 and April 21, only after the cases were skyrocketing across the country. Another member said a meeting of the task force was called only when the Centre "wanted us to rubber stamp some decision already taken by politicians." Maharashtra was first to see a rapid surge since mid of February. "We knew cases were of a different strain, which was killing younger people, faster," said the first member said.

AIIMS stops contact tracing of sick staff

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi has decided to stop contact tracing of exposed staff and quarantine of asymptomatic contacts amid the current situation that has led to insufficient resources and shortage of staff. Only symptomatic healthcare workers will be tested and only those testing positive will be isolated.

1,62,63,695
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far

1,86,920
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

1,36, 48,159
Total no. of patients Recovered and discharged in India so far

13,54,78,420
(Total no. of people vaccinated so far)

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