Export of desi ventilators allowed as death rate dips

NEW DELHI: The group of ministers (GOM) on Covid-19 has agreed to the proposal of the ministry of health and family welfare to allow the export of made-in-India ventilators.

A statement issued by the health ministry said, “This decision comes on the heels of India continuing to maintain a progressively declining rate of case fatality of Covid-19 patients, which currently stands at 2.15%. It means that fewer numbers of active cases are on ventilators.” As on July 31, only 0.22% of the active cases were on ventilators across India.

The decision has been communicated to the director general of foreign trade for further action to facilitate the export of indigenously manufactured ventilators.

There has been substantial growth in the domestic manufacturing capacity of ventilators from Januray 2020 with more than 20 manufacturers at present.The export restriction on ventilators was imposed in March to ensure sufficient domestic availability.