NO COVID DEATH IN BIHAR FOR WANT OF HEALTH CARE: MINISTER
PATNA: No person infected with Covid-19 died in Bihar due to shortage of oxygen, non-availability of equipment or any error in identifying gravity of ailments, state’s health minister Mangal Pandey informed the Legislative Council on Tuesday.
The minister was replying to a starred question of Congress member Prem Chandra Mishra, who sought to know if lives of more than 30% of Covid-infected persons could be saved by arranging better medical infrastructure and timely intervention of doctors.
As per state’s health department, Bihar has reported around 7.25 lakh infections and 9,639 deaths so far.
PATNA: Bihar’s health minister Mangal Pandey on Tuesday informed the Legislative Council that no person infected with Covid-19 died in the state due to shortage of oxygen, non-availability of equipment or any error in identifying gravity of ailments.
The minister was replying to a starred question of Congress member Prem Chandra Mishra, who sought to know if lives of more than 30% of Covid-infected persons could be saved by arranging better medical infrastructure and timely intervention of doctors. To back his question, Mishra cited observations of medical experts at a conference organised by All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna, which was attended by Pandey and then Union minister of state for health Ashwini Choubey.
Rejecting Mishra’s contention, Pandey claimed experts’ views were aimed at underlining the importance of better medicare facilities in general terms. “That should not be taken as objective analysis of the actual situation,” contended the health minister, saying that no one died in the state for want of proper treatment.
As per state’s health department, there are as many as 467 active cases of Covid-19 in the state, which reported around 7.25 lakh infections and 9,639 deaths so far.
Mishra disputed the minister’s claim, saying there was hardly any family in the state which did not have at least one member suffering from Covid-19 or succumbing to the disease owing to inadequate medical facilities. “People in Bihar spent a couple of harried weeks when they were struggling to find beds, oxygen cylinders or life saving drugs,” he said.
Earlier, Union minister of state for health, Bharati Pravin Pawar, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, had stated that no one died in the country due to shortage of oxygen and drew flak from opposition parties. Later, it was clarified that no states cited the shortage of oxygen as reason for deaths during the second wave of the pandemic.
The minister further stated that the state had made elaborate arrangements to tackle the third wave of the pandemic by substantially increasing the number of ICU beds, children’s wards and arranged sufficient supply of oxygen cylinders. Pandey said all the government’s medical colleges and hospitals would soon have 30 dedicated ICU beds for Covid patients, while each district sadar hospital would be equipped with 10 paediatric ICU beds each.
“A total of 28,594 beds are ready across the state to deal with likely outbreak of the 3rd wave of pandemic. Out of the total, 16,986 are equipped with oxygen supply while 1150 ventilators have been arranged to tackle emergency cases,” informed the health minister.
To another query of Mishra, Pandey stated that nearly 1,600 health centres would be ready across Bihar in 15 months. Appointment of over 6,200 expert doctors by the technical recruitment commission was in the process, said the minister.