As the country is reeling under an aggressive second wave of coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Friday with the Chief Ministers on the COVID situation. On the issue of oxygen shortage, reported across several states, the PM told the CMs to set up a high-level coordination committee to carry oxygen to different hospitals, reported ANI.

Also read: ‘Who do I call?’ Arvind Kejriwal’s SOS for oxygen at PM Modi’s COVID meet

The committee should ensure that as soon as the Centre allots oxygen, it can deliver it to different hospitals of the state immediately, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) read.

Modi told the CMs that the Centre is working on all the options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of oxygen tankers. For this purpose, the Indian Railways has started Oxygen Express and the empty oxygen tankers are airlifted by the Air Force, the PM said.

He also told the states to ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded. The PM also told the states to work together and coordinate to fulfill requirements relating to medicines and oxygen and check their hoarding and black-marketing

“The Ministry of Health is also in touch with the states and is monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advice to the states from time to time,” the statement issued by the PMO added.

Also read: Delhi-NCR hospitals live from hour to hour as oxygen supplies trickle in

Meanwhile, India on Thursday recorded 332,730 cases of coronavirus, the highest single-day spike ever recorded in the world. 2,263 people died of the disease in the past 24 hours.