‘PM personally monitored Covid situation in Kashi’
: Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally monitored the Covid-19 situation in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi for about a month (three weeks of April and the first week of May), said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC AK Sharma, a former senior bureaucrat who has worked closely with PM Modi for about two decades and played a key role in dealing with the second wave here.
PM Modi took daily updates, guided him (AK Sharma) and the team of administrative officials comprising divisional commissioner Deepak Agarwal and district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, he added.
AK Sharma reached Varanasi in mid-April when the Covid-19 infection was at its peak here. As many as 2484 new cases were reported on April 15 and the number of active cases surged over 11,000 in Varanasi district that day.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is deeply attached with Varanasi. He personally monitored the Covid-19 situation in Varanasi and guided us on a daily basis to ensure help to every Covid-19 patient here and the steps required to be taken to bring the situation under control,” said AK Sharma.
PM asked about the number of total cases, positivity rate and recovery rate daily, he said.
Modi spoke to AK Sharma on the phone almost daily for updates. PM also spoke to the divisional commissioner and the district magistrate from time to time, instructing them about the steps to be taken.
Confirming this, AK Sharma said soon after reaching Varanasi, he, along with a team of officers, began work under PM Modi’s guidance to deal with the sudden emergence of the second wave of Covid-19. Besides the divisional commissioner and DM, the team had medical officials, including additional chief medical officer Dr Sanjay Rai.
Sharma said he drew a strategy for proper management of Covid and started implementing it. As per the strategy, Kashi Covid Response Centre (KCRC) with helpline numbers was set up on April 20. (The helpline numbers were 1077 / 1800-1805567; 0542-2221937, 2221939, 2221941, 2221942, 2221944 and 2720005).
In the meantime, oxygen crisis deepened in the city on April 22 and 400 oxygen cylinders were brought from Gujarat. He also ensured liquid medical oxygen supply from Bokaro (Jharkhand) to two oxygen plants in
PM SPOKE TO MLC AK SHARMA DAILY, INTERACTED WITH DIVISIONAL COMMISSIONER, DM FROM TIME TO TIME AND ISSUED INSTRUCTIONS
neighbouring Chandauli district.
AK Sharma said there were only two oxygen plants in the industrial area in Chandauli in mid- April. Then, six oxygen plants, including two in government hospitals, were installed rapidly and all of them were functional at present, he said.
Over 700 oxygen concentrators were distributed in different Covid hospitals of eastern UP, including Varanasi, he added. There were 54 High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) machines in Varanasi. AK Sharma made special efforts for getting 38 of them from Turkey to Varanasi via Mumbai.
He said when he reached Varanasi, there were only 400 oxygenated beds here. At present, there are 2400 oxygenated beds in the city. The testing capacity of two labs in government hospitals has been increased by providing them with two RNA extractor machines with the help of Assocham.
The time for obtaining test reports had decreased from five days to 24 hours in Varanasi, he said.
AK Sharma held around 50 meetings with ground level BJP workers, especially mandal adhyakshas (party chiefs of a locality) in Varanasi and public representatives to have an idea of the infection level in every locality.
Asked why he was sent to Varanasi, the MLC said, “I am quite familiar with the area. I know the area well. While working for Covid management in Varanasi, I also visited Mau, Azamgarh, Chandauli and some PHCs in rural areas and guided the teams working there for Covid-19 management.”
“Constant guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and full support of PMO have resulted in whatever good has happened in Covid-19 management,” said the MLC who also reviewed the Covid situation on Wednesday.
Modi also was in touch with a few grass roots BJP workers in Varanasi to keep an eye on the situation here, said a senior BJP leader who asked not to be named. The party leader said the PM asked the workers if serious efforts were being made by the health department and district administration to control the Covid situation. He also asked them about the condition of people in the city. The number of active cases, which had reached 17,000 in Varanasi district in the last week of April, has decreased to 4818 in the district at present. Additional chief medical officer (Varanasi) Dr Sanjay Rai said the positivity rate, which was 40% in Varanasi district a month ago, had decreased to 3-4% at present.