Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday sought to lay the blame for the explosive situation in the State on the laxity shown by the public in maintaining physical distancing and other precautions. He claimed that even when the Health Department was trying to do more tests amongst the community, there were people who did not cooperate.
He appealed to religious and community leaders and other social mobilisers to create awareness amongst the public of the importance of maintaining universal safety precautions.
There were 397 areas in the State designated as hotspots at present. He said the health system was fully equipped to deal with the burgeoning caseload.
He said the safety of health-care workers was paramount to the government and that adequate stocks of PPE kits, masks, and gloves were being maintained.
He said that 80 new ventilators had been procured, apart from 270 ICU ventilators provided by the Centre. There was adequate oxygen stock to run 607 ventilators round-the-clock and all seven medical colleges had liquid oxygen facilities. He added that 947 ambulances had been readied exclusively for COVID work, while telemedicine facilities and mobile medical units were also readied.
