Maharashtra Health Minister raises issue of certification of coronavirus protective gear with Harsh Vardhan

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Friday raised the issue of certification and procurement of protective gear with Union Health Minister via video conferencing in which health ministers from different states took part.

"There is an issue of certification and procurement of protective gear. Some companies are producing good quality material but do not have the authorisation from DRDE or SITRA," Tope said.

"We also need the schedule regarding the quantity of protective gear, we will receive from the Centre so that we can think of arranging the remaining quantity if shortage still persists," he added.

Responding to Tope, Vardhan said: " We have supplied PPEs to various states without compromising on quality. Earlier, we used to import these PPEs. Now with Textile ministry, we are now producing it within the country. We have identified 32 manufacturers of PPEs. We are also procuring PPEs from abroad and we will procure 10 lakh PPEs per week from this weekend," he said.

Health Secretary, Preeti Sudan said all efforts should be made to ensure that the virus does not reach in non-affected areas,"

Several State Health Ministers raised the issue of lockdown.

Harsh Vardhan said that a decision will be taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with chief ministers.

He said AarogyaSetu App should be widely downloaded.