BSY tasks five ministers with fixing Covid-19 mess

Karnataka will ask the Centre to divert Maharashtra’s oxygen allocation towards it

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa picked five ministers Tuesday to oversee oxygen and Remdesivir supplies, functioning of the war rooms and the availability of beds, all of which have become pain points in Karnataka’s fight against Covid-19.

On oxygen specifically, the state government has decided to petition the Centre that it wants to use up all of the life-supporting gas manufactured in the state. Plus, it will ask the Centre to divert Maharashtra’s oxygen allocation towards Karnataka as the number of cases in the neighbouring state is decreasing.

Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar will handle oxygen supply management. “He will keep in regular touch with the Centre to secure the required oxygen for patients. He will also hold meetings with local producers constantly,” Yediyurappa said, briefing reporters after a special Cabinet meeting that discussed the Covid-19 situation.

Read | Oxygen crisis deepens in Karnataka with 7 deaths in Kalaburagi and Belagavi govt hospitals

Yediyurappa’s deputy C N Ashwath Narayan is in charge of Remdesivir supply and other drugs along with ramping up human resource at Covid hospitals. “Final-year medicine, nursing students will be roped in to increase strength at Covid care facilities,” the CM said.

Revenue Minister R Ashoka and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai have been tasked with ensuring maximum availability of beds in government and private hospitals. Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali will look at various war rooms and call centres. “He will monitor them and make them more effective in providing essential medical advice to patients,” Yediyurappa said.

In another significant decision, the Cabinet gave “full authority” to district in-charge minister to bring Covid-19 cases under control, Yediyurappa said.

On the oxygen front, Yediyurappa said his government was in constant touch with the Centre. “Our supply from neighbouring states is delayed,” he said. “We’ve been speaking with union ministers over the past three days...we have asked the Centre to divert the oxygen allocated to Maharashtra from the Jindal plant since case numbers are dropping there. They’ve agreed,” he said.

He also said that Union Ministers Amit Shah and Piyush Goel “have almost agreed and will take a call soon” on allowing Karnataka to use all the oxygen produced in the state.