Adityanath visits AMU to review Covid situation
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for the first time on Thursday and offered condolences to the bereaved families of AMU faculty members who lost their lives because of Covid-19.
He assured all possible help, including oxygen supply and medicines to the university’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital on the campus.
At least 16 serving professors have died during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three other faculty members have also died during past month, but due to reasons other than Covid-19. (In addition, 25 retired teaching faculty, 10 staff members and two schoolteachers from AMU have died, people familiar with the development had said earlier this week. Details of the cause of death of the retired teaching faculty were not available).
Alarmed by the deaths, AMU vice chancellor Tariq Mansoor had written to the Indian Council of Medical Research on May 9, urging it to study if a particular coronavirus variant is circulating around the university campus.
The chief minister held a meeting with senior officials of AMU and the district administration at the medical college’s auditorium after his arrival.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the chief minister said in view of the death of 16 serving professors, he spoke to vice chancellor Tariq Mansoor twice.
“We have to rely on vaccination as security cover from Covid-19. Most of the faculty members who lost their lives did not have vaccination,” the chief minister said.
“Ten out of the faculty members died here in Aligarh, while four died in other cities and two in Delhi,” he stated.
The chief minister said he hoped that the situation in the university would improve once the vaccination drive on campus picked up.
He said the supply of oxygen to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College was being increased. The supply began on Wednesday,
and this will resolve any shortage of oxygen, according to a PTI report.
Adityanath also held a meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in Aligarh with district officials at the integrated Covid control centre.
He said there had been a “decline in active Covid-19 cases” in the Aligarh division “in the past week as compared to the previous week”.
He also claimed that there has been a marked decline in the number of active cases across the state over the past few days and added that steps were being taken to augment oxygen supplies. The chief minister said the state government had also started preparing for a possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. As of Thursday, Uttar Pradesh’s Covid-19 caseload stands at 15,80,980 while 16,646 people have succumbed to the viral disease in the state, according to officials.
A press statement issued by AMU’s public relations office said, “Chief minister assured all possible help, including required oxygen supply and Remdesivir injections to the medical college hospital. The chief minister came to Aligarh to take stock of the situation and offered condolences to the bereaved families at AMU. During his visit, chief minister reviewed the situation in Aligarh and other nearby districts.”
“The chief minister held a meeting with the officials of the university, including AMU vice chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor; Abdul Hamid (IPS), Registrar; Professor Shahid A Siddiqui (Principal, JNMC), Prof Rakesh Bhargava (Dean, Faculty of Medicine) and Professor Amjad Ali Rizvi (Officiating Medical Superintendent),” the statement added.
Vice Chancellor Prof Mansoor said JNMC needed continuous oxygen supply and Remdesivir urgently. The medical college staff comprising doctors, nurses and paramedical staff have been working relentlessly with exemplary dedication, and many of them contracted Covid in the line of duty while serving the patients. He saluted the JNMC doctors and staff for their sincerity and dedication, stated the press statement.
Prof Mansoor also said that while all efforts were being made to tackle the present second wave, “we have to be prepared for a possible third wave that is estimated to affect children the most”. Prof Mansoor said JNMC will work closely with the state and Union governments to augment health infrastructure of JNMC and add to capacity in critical areas such as paediatric ICUs, so as to provide better medical care to everyone, especially children. He said that the university had started telemedicine services and it would be strengthened further.
The PRO Cell of AMU said the vice chancellor had been in touch with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The vice chancellor thanked the Prime Minister, the Union education minister, the chief minister, and their offices for their support to the university amid the Covid crisis.
The vice chancellor and the university officials have been issuing regular advisories, through circulars, notifications, social media and other mediums, urging the university fraternity to get vaccinated on priority.
Prof Mansoor further said the university had sent samples for genome sequencing to ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) for investigating the possibility of a new mutant of virus.
Explaining the reasons for high mortality rate in the second wave, JNMC Hospital officials said non-vaccination, comorbidity, and late admission to medical college led to increase in deaths. “The university stands by the bereaved families in this difficult hour,” stated the PRO cell of AMU.