Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar cautions against shortage of beds
Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar
Bengaluru: Health & Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday said that necessary measures have been taken to ensure sufficient supply of vaccines to the state and there is no question of shortage.
"State has received 15 lakh additional doses of Covid Vaccine in two consignments to Bengaluru and Belagavi," he added.
"More than 46 lakh people have been vaccinated so far. We were having 12 lakh dosages and after a speaking with Union Health Ministry additional 15 lakh dosages have been allocated to our state out of which 10 lakh dosages have been sent to Bengaluru and 5 lakh to Belagavi. I express my gratitude to the Union Government for this gesture," he added.
The minister said that the number of cases have been reduced due to a series of holidays and if protocols are followed the numbers may slump.
"PM has interacted with 8 states and has suggested they take stringent measures. Maharashtra has imposed tougher measures, let us not push ourselves into such a situation where tougher measures become inevitable. Nonetheless we should not underestimate the scale and speed in which infection is spreading," cautioned the Minister.
However, he added that the state may face a shortage of beds if the number of cases increases drastically.
"We have collected information regarding the availability of beds in government hospitals. We have also initiated talks with private hospitals to reserve beds for Covid treatment. As per the advice of the technical advisory committee, we need to consider the pandemic seriously till May end. We need to contain the second wave and save lives. Public cooperation is paramount in this," Sudhakar elaborated.
As per experts' opinion there is a possibility of more than 6500 cases per day in Bengaluru alone.
"If we do not contain the spread, we will see further surge in cases. If the situation arises, CM is willing to take the suggestions of opposition parties as well.
There is a need to increase Covid reserve beds in Victoria and Bowring hospitals and we will do that. Also, there is a need to increase the percentage of beds reserved in private hospitals for Covid treatment from the existing 20%," Minister cautioned.