Powered by
Sponsored by

Madhya Pradesh faces 'severe' COVID-19 crisis, says CM after record deaths

Positivity rate hits 21.7%; shortage of oxygen, hospital beds and medicines continues

chouhan meeting File photo of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan (centre) chairing a meeting | Official Twitter handle

With Madhya Pradesh reporting a record number of deaths due to COVID-19, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the state faces a "severe" crisis, adding that the government was making best efforts on all fronts to contain it.

According to the health department bulletin issued on Wednesday evening, Madhya Pradesh reported 51 deaths during the past 24 hours, which is its highest daily death toll since the pandemic started in March 2020. 

Local media, however, are reporting that the number of deaths are far higher—pointing to crematoriums and graveyards that are falling acutely short of arrangements. Local media claimed that 84 bodies were cremated/buried under COVID-19 protocol in capital Bhopal alone on Tuesday, even as the official record put the COVID-19 deaths in Bhopal at just four in the duration.

Indore and Gwalior reported six deaths each during the 24 hours while Jabalpur reported five deaths, the health department bulletin showed. The death toll in the state has gone up to 4,312.

During the 24 hours, a total of 9720 new positive cases were reported in the state—again a record number. The tally has reached 3,63,352 while the active cases stand at 49,551.

Also, the COVID-19 positivity rate has gone up to a worrying 21.7 per cent, meaning that more than one person in every five being tested were coming out positive.

CM, Scindia cancel poll campaign

On Wednesday, the chief minister cancelled his roadshow in Damoh where a by-poll is scheduled on April 17, citing the 'severe' situation of COVID-19 and saying that he had to stay back in Bhopal to make arrangements. Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia, who had campaigned in the constituency for the first time on Tuesday also cancelled his tour for the roadshow on Wednesday.

The MP Congress chief and ex-chief minister Kamal Nath however went ahead with his roadshow in Damoh, though he attacked the government on mismanagement of the pandemic. Congress district president Ajay Tandon is pitted against Rahul Lodhi of BJP. Lodhi, earlier a Congress MLA, had resigned ahead of the November 2020 by-polls in the state and joined the BJP.

Meanwhile, in Bhopal, the chief minister said that he was aware of the challenge of the shortage of oxygen in the state. He said that on Tuesday 272 metric tonnes of oxygen was available and it had gone up to 280 mt on Wednesday. Eight air concentrators units were being set up of which four have become functional. A lot of 31,000 doses of Remdesivir injections had been received by now and on Thursday 12,000 more doses were expected.

He said that discussions are on to see whether railway rakes could be used to bring in additional oxygen tankers and also helicopters will be used if necessary to supply Remdesivir injections to other districts if needed. He claimed that there was no shortage of injections in the government hospitals.

He called upon people who have registered as "corona volunteers" to see whether "janta curfew" (voluntary curfew) could be imposed in affected wards/villages to keep people safe. He again appealed to people to follow COVID-19 protocols and pray at homes during the ongoing Navratri and Ramzan holy periods.

Meanwhile, to protest the shortage of oxygens in hospitals across the state, Congress former ministers P.C. Sharma and Jitu Patwari and MLA Kunal Choudhary sat on a dharna under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Minto Hall in Bhopal with empty oxygen cylinders. They issued an appeal to prime minister Narendra Modi to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen to the state.

Former health minister and BJP MLA Ajay Vishnoi also raised questions over the judicious use of oxygen in the state. He tweeted to call the attention of the CM to the fact that while Maharashtra used 457 mt of oxygen in April first week despite having 50,000 positive cases, how could MP use 732 mt for only 5,000 patients in the same duration.

📣 The Week is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TheWeekmagazine) and stay updated with the latest headlines