New Delhi, Apr 27 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting with top officials to review the Covid-19 situation in the country and was given an overview relating to oxygen availability, medicines and health infrastructure.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said: "The Empowered Group working on boosting oxygen supply briefed the Prime Minister on the efforts being made to ramp up availability and supply of oxygen in the country."

"It was discussed that the production of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in the country has increased from 5,700 MT per day in August 2020 to the present 8,922 MT on April 25. The domestic production of LMO is expected to cross 9,250 MT per day by the end of April 2021," it said.

The Prime Minister instructed the officials to work closely with state governments to start the PSA oxygen plants at the earliest. Officers also apprised the Prime Minister that they are encouraging states to also set up PSA oxygen plants.

The Prime Minister was briefed about the functioning of the Oxygen Express Railways service as well as the domestic sorties and international sorties undertaken by the IAF to transport oxygen tankers.

The Empowered Group working on Medical Infrastructure and Covid management briefed the Prime Minister on efforts being undertaken to ramp up availability of beds and ICUs.

"They informed the Prime Minister on efforts to break the chain of transmission. The Prime Minister stressed on the need to ensure that specific guidelines and strategies evolved regarding Covid management needs to be properly implemented by the relevant agencies in the states," the PMO said.

Meanwhile, the Empowered Group working on communication informed the Prime Minister on the efforts being undertaken to improve awareness among people on Covid-related behaviour.