Arunachal CM Pema Khandu dedicates four oxygen plants to people

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday dedicated four PSA (Oxygen) plants, sponsored under PM Cares, in service of the people of the State.

The plants have been installed in the district hospitals at Hayuliang in Anjaw district, Raga (Kamle), Roing (Lower Dibang Valley) and at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Science (TRIHMS) at Naharlagun, near here.

Virtually inaugurating the plants from Bomdila in West Kameng district, Khandu said that it was a gift to the people of the state from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose 71st birth anniversary was being celebrated on the day, a CMO communiqué informed here on Saturday.

"With these four, we today have 24 functional PSA plants across the state in various hospitals," Khandu informed.

He said as per the health department's plan, by October end all proposed PSA plants in the state would be functional taking the total number of oxygen plants to 44 in the state which would generate12,650 LPM in all.

"The importance of oxygen in our fight against Covid-19 became evident in the second wave of the pandemic. Fortunately I was forewarned by experts and therefore could manage to get ready 100 oxygen beds before second wave hit our state. We today have more than 1000 oxygen beds for the needy. We will ensure that no patient loses his or her life for lack of oxygen," said the Chief Minister. Assuring that the state is slowly emerging out of the grip of the pandemic's second onslaught, Khandu expressed gratitude to the health workers and departmental officials for toiling night and day without rest to save people.

"Unfortunately we lost more lives in the second wave than during the first but our health workers could manage to not let the death toll go out of hands. Because of them, the situation in our state was always under control," he observed.

The Chief Minister also attributed the vigorous vaccination drive in controlling the number of Covid deaths in the state, which as of now stood at 271.

"Healthcare workers are the real heroes of our vaccination drive. Today we are vaccinating people in crores across the country. Half the battle will be won when at least half of our population will be completely vaccinated," he said. Khandu however cautioned that the battle against Covid-19 was far from over.

Stating that vaccination does not shield a person completely from the virus, he called upon the people to 'learn to live with the virus' and said that the only way to do so is by following the prescribed SoPs religiously.

One good thing from the pandemic, Khandu felt, was the lesson learnt on significance of a robust health scenario.

"We have learnt our lesson. Today our focus is on improving health infrastructure across the state," he said.

Also Read: Chief Minister Pema Khandu inspects proposed construction of four-lane national highway-415

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