Indian Govt Ramps Up Efforts To Augment Supplies Of Protective Gear & Healthcare Equipment

The Indian government has ramped up its efforts to augment supplies of protective-gear and healthcare equipment needed to prevent and treat cases of COVID-19.

The government is also working on scaling up imports of various essential items like masks, coveralls and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

On the coveralls, the government said that as of now 3.34 lakh coverall units are already available and another 3 lakh will come  by April 4, as way of international donations. The government has already received about 10,000 coveralls from Red Cross as donations.

The government has also outlined and identified 11 domestic producers of coveralls and have placed an order for 21 lakh units of coveralls. According to the government, the 11 domestic producers currently have a capacity of manufacturing about 6000-7000 coveralls and are expected to double their capacities in 10 days time.

The government had also floated a global tender a few days ago. It has now placed an order of 10 lakh PPE kits that have coveralls, gloves, protective glasses, goggles, and N95 masks through a Singapore based platform. An order of 20 lakh coveralls has also been placed with a South Korean firm.

As far as N95 masks are concerned, the government has said that about 12 lakh units are already available at government hospitals and they have been distributing about 6.4 lakh in the last 2 days. It has also ordered 2 domestic companies to produce about 50,000 masks per day. The companies are expected to double their capacity in a week’s time.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will also begin to produce about 20,000 N99 masks per day in a week’s time.

According to reports, India will need about 1 million coverall and goggles, about 4 million masks, and about 6.2 million pieces of PPEs.

With regards to ventilators, India currently has about 40,000-50,000 ventilators and of that about 14,000 have been earmarked for COVID-19 patients. The health ministry has also placed an order for 10,000 ventilators with AgVa Healthcare which are likely to come in supply by second week of April.

Bharat Electronics has also been directed to manufacture 30,000 units of ventilators. Other auto companies have been requested to start manufacturing ventilators as well.-CNBC