Combating COVID-19: Punjab building large stocks of life-saving equipment

Punjab government is building up its stock of life-saving equipment to prepare for any contingency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To prepare for any COVID-19 related contingency, the Punjab government led by Captain Amarinder Singh is aggressively building up its stocks of life-saving equipment such as masks, gloves, ventilators, PPE kits, etc., with large quantities of these materials already in stock and many more expected to be available over the next few days.

"By March 31, the state will have another 25000 N95 masks, in addition to the 52500 it already has in stock, along with one lakh Nitrile gloves. While the state government already has at its disposal 26,32,000 triple-layer masks, another 12 lakh will get added to the inventory by April 1," according to Additional Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan.

"As far as the much-needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, the government has ordered a total of 1 lakh, of which 7640 have already been received," said Mahajan, adding that all efforts were being made to procure the balance at the earliest.

Other critical supplies already available with the government include 10425 hand sanitisers and 17000 VTM kits, with 2000 and 10000 more, respectively, already on the way and expected to be added to the inventory by April 1. The government is also procuring the much-needed ventilators for handling critical cases, she added.

Other materials being procured by the government to combat the Coronavirus crisis include the Automated Mid-High Nucleic Acid Purification machines, along with large quantities of Azithromycin and Hydroxy Chloroquine tablets, besides Laryngoscopes - Pediatric and Adult, Ambu Bags - Pediatric and Adult, Portable X-ray machines and ABG Electrolyte Analyzers, said an official statement.

"These are in addition to the Urine analysers and Fully Automated Biochemistry Analysers which are already available with the state," the press release said.

Talking about equipment already made operational, Mahajan said that 1,06,000 TLMs, 45,000 Azithromycin Tablets, besides 30,000 Gloves, 4510 N 95 Masks and 1200 each of PPE and VTM Kits have been made available with the Government Medical College at Amritsar.

Similarly, the Government Medical College Patiala has received 1,21,500 TLMs, 30,000 Gloves, 3100 N 95 Masks, and 800 Sanitizers. GMC Faridkot has got 1,00,000 TLMs, 30,000 Gloves besides 1800 N 95 Masks, 1200 VTM and 800 sanitizers.

In addition, 8000 tablets each of ARV (Ritonovir and Liponovir) have been provided to these three medical facilities. Besides 36,000 TLMs and 5000 Azithromycin tablets, MS Gian Sagar Hospital has been provided 280 N95 Masks and 210 VTM kits, according to Mahajan.