Hoarding Covid drugs a crime against humanity, says Yogi
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the UP Police, the state health department and State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to check black-marketeering and hoarding of drugs, including Remdesivir, essential for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
“It is a crime against humanity and no one dealing in the hoarding and black-marketeering of Covid-19 medicines should be spared. The police should work with the policy of zero-tolerance to instill fear in the minds of the culprits,” the chief minister said amid a surge in coronavirus infection cases in the state.
Yogi Adityanath also asked UP’s medical education minister Suresh Khanna to monitor the current situation of medical oxygen supply, assess its projected use in the next 15 days and ensure its hassle-free availability and supply to hospitals, claimed a state government official in a statement.
“Uninterrupted supply of oxygen should be ensured in all the hospitals for the next 36 hours and oxygen cylinders should be regularly replaced in all districts,” instructed the CM, who is in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19.
“Continuous supply of oxygen to Covid-19 hospitals in all districts must be ensured. The control room set up by the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department in connection with this should also remain active 24 hours,” the CM added.
The CM also instructed the officials to set up 10 oxygen plants in the state.
Officials said the health minister and additional chief secretary (health) have already begun identifying locations to set up the plants.
The CM also instructed DG (Medical Education) to provide oxygen cylinders to the institutions where there are no ICU beds due to lack of oxygen.
In line with the chief minister’s directives, the Uttar Pradesh Police have launched an extensive drive to check the black-marketing, hoarding and overcharging for Remdesivir and other drugs.
“The state government has instructed the police to act tough against people who are blackmarketing Covid-19 medicines,” said a government spokesman.
The state government has already invoked the provisions of the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against three persons who were arrested by the Kanpur unit of Special Task Force (STF) earlier this week with 265 Remdesivir injections meant for sale in the black market.
Additional director general of police (Law & Order) Prashant Kumar said those who were exploiting people and creating artificial shortage of medicine would invite the strictest punishment.
Ensure fire safety at Covid hospitals: CM
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday asked the state administration to learn from a blaze at a Covid hospital in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) on Saturday and make all fire safety arrangements at UP’s Covid hospitals. At least four people had died at the Rajdhani hospital in the Chhattisgarh state capital.
Describing the incident as heartrending, the chief minister asked officials to test run the fire safety systems here.
Yogi was conducting a meeting virtually with his Team 11 on Covid-19 management.
He also asked for doubling the Covid beds (both ICU and isolation beds) in 12 high infection rate affected districts, including Lucknow, Prayagraj, Moradabad, Jhansi and Kanpur. He asked medical education minister Suresh Khanna to monitor it, said the state government in a statement.
The CM also asked for Covid management capacity enhancement at Kanpur’s Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College, Rama Medical College and Narayan Medical College, the statement said.