PM Chairs Meet on COVID, Asks for Audit of Unutilised Ventilators

He has also asked to provide refresher training to healthcare workers for properly operating ventilators.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 15 May, chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the COVID and vaccination situation in the country. As per a press release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the prime minister has taken note of the news reports on ventilators lying unutilised and has asked states to conduct an “immediate audit of installation and operation of ventilators” provided by the central government.

He also asked to provide refresher training to healthcare workers for properly operating ventilators, if required.

The prime minister said that a distribution plan for ensuring oxygen supply in rural areas should be worked out.

The press release mentioned, “The Prime Minister added that necessary training should be provided to health workers in the operation of such equipment, and power supply should be ensured for smooth operation of such medical devices.”

The meeting comes at a time when the country is struggling with the second COVID wave. PM Modi said that a localised containment strategy is the need of the hour and that states should be “encouraged to report their numbers transparently without any pressure of high numbers showing adversely on their efforts”.

Further, the prime minister was briefed about the testing in the country and was told that tests have gone up from 50 lakh test per week in early March to around 1.3 crore tests now.

“They also informed the PM about the gradually decreasing test positivity rate and increasing recovery rate. It was discussed that cases which had gone over 4 lakh cases per day are now coming down as a result of the efforts by healthcare workers, state governments and central government,” the press releases added.