Madras HC Asks State Govt To Describe Status of Oxygen, Drugs, Vaccination By Tomorrow

Chennai: Asserting a change of government in Tamil Nadu should not lead to letting the guard down against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought the status of oxygen, drugs and vaccination by tomorrow.

Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, who heard the matter, said “we are one country and all states have to share oxygen equitably”.

“A change of government in Tamil Nadu should not lead to letting the guard down against Covid-19….I want to know status of oxygen drugs and vaccination by tomorrow,” he said.

The Centre told the Madras High Court that Tamil Nadu has been allotted 1,35,500 vials of Remdesivir between April 21 and May 9.

“I want to know by when Sterlite copper smelting plant will begin producing medical oxygen,” asked Chief Justice Banerjee.

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A senior counsel representing the state government informed the High Court that Tamil Nadu is running out of oxygen

“That is why we want to know how much can we get from Sterlite,” the High Court said.

Stating the black marketing of Remdesivir is also a serious issue, the High Court asked the Health Secretary to respond by tomorrow.

The High Court also sought the status of aid coming from various nations.

“It appears lot of aid has come from various countries including small nations like Romania but they are stuck in airports. We want to know the status on that also,” the High Court told the Centre.

Chief Justice Banerjee also asked on what basis is the Centre allocating Remdesivir to various states.

“Based on number of positive cases. Maharashtra has more cases, so it gets more,” the counsel representing the Centre said.

Chief Justice Banerjee asked the Centre to pay attention to Puducherry too.