The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday said it has planned to stock up around 50000 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits for the medical personnel who are treating patients with suspected coronavirus symptoms.
Although there aren’t any shortages of PPEs, the government is already in the process of procuring around 20,000 PPE kits from three companies which imported such equipments.
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As per reports, one of the companies is providing 11,500 PPE kits and the other two will be giving 7500 and 300 PPE kits respectively.
Moreover, the health ministry is also planning to procure PPEs from three domestic companies which manufacture such kits for the Army.
Currently, the product samples of these three domestic companies are being tested by the technical wing of the Ministry of Textiles.
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After getting the approval from the textile ministry, the health ministry is planning to place orders for manufacturing PPEs in bulk.
The move of the government to acquire such a large number of PPEs comes following the massive outbreak of the deadly coronavirus which had infected three persons in Kerala and had claimed 1000 lives in the neighbouring country China.
Union health secretary Preeti Sudan on Monday chaired a video conference (VC) with Health Secretaries from States/UTs along with senior officials from Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Home Affairs to review their actions and preparedness for prevention and management of Novel Coronavirus.
The States were also advised to review the availability of earmarked isolation beds, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and N95 masks so as to ensure adequate preparedness.
It was also suggested to states to strengthen their rapid response teams to counter any eventuality.