Amid Covid surge, UP govt orders increase in hospital beds

As of now, in the government and private hospitals along with the specialised medical institutions, around 278 beds will be increased.

The government has also ordered the officials to keep a check on the availability of the medicines used in the treatment of coronavirus infection and make it available in sufficient quantity.

''In the level two and three Covid-19 hospitals of the state, the ICU has around 4333 beds, which will now be increased to 4611. Along with this, the number of isolation beds will be increased from 11811 beds to approximately 16422 beds in the government and private hospitals,'' said the officials here on Thursday.

Infection cases have been increasing in UP for about a week. Considering this, CM Yogi Adityanath has also given instructions to the senior officials to ensure that there is no shortage of any kind in medicines and resources.

According to AK Jain, Drug Controller, ''All the medicines and other products related to infection are available in sufficient quantity in the state, including sanitizer, PPE kit, ivermectin and azithromycin.''

He further said that during the pandemic times, the State Government has also increased the resources of testing, number of beds and ventilators in the hospitals and other such resources.

''As of February 2020, there were only 86 units for making hand sanitizer in the state, which has now increased to 151. Since February, 65 new sanitizer units have been established,''' said Jain.

The Food and Drug Administration Department has clamped down on arbitrators during the Covid times.

Under the Drugs Act, 9 cases were filed for ‘arbitrariness in the sale of drugs’ and 23 people were arrested and material worth Rs 85,18,855 seized.

Apart from this, under the Essential Commodities Act, 15 cases have been registered in the state on illegal business related to mask hand sanitizer and oxygen.

''To tackle the situation of Covid-19 in the state, the government is ensuring that everything is made available to the people. Due to the start of production units, there will be no shortage of resources in the state,'' the Drug Controller added.