Dharamshala, May 10 (PTI) The Centre and the Himachal Pradesh government are fully prepared to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, and essential medicines as well as oxygen are being provided regularly to the state's districts, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Monday.

The Union minister of state for finance also said the state administration should ensure people in the age group of 18 to 45 years are covered systematically under the anti-COVID vaccination drive.

"The Centre and the state government are fully prepared to deal with COVID-19. Oxygen, PPE (personal protective equipment) kits and essential medicines are being made available regularly in districts of Himachal Pradesh," he said while presiding over a meeting on the COVID-19 situation with state authorities and the Kangra district administration.

The meeting was held virtually and Thakur addressed officials from Delhi.

He said the administration should ensure proper care of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and regularly contact those recovering in home isolation.

Besides running awareness campaigns, authorities must see to it that people follow COVID-appropriate behaviour like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, the Union minister said.

During the meeting, Thakur was briefed by Kangra district officials about COVID hospitals and other arrangements made to deal with pandemic.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said COVID-19 patients are being treated at eight private hospitals.

Besides these facilities, the zonal hospital in Dharamshala, the medical college in Tanda and the ayurvedic college in Paprola are also treating patients, he said.

Prajapati also said that a makeshift hospital is being set up at Parour, where 250 beds will be made available from May 15.

He said that there is no shortage of oxygen in Kangra district.

Oxygen cylinder godowns have been set up in the Zilla Parishad Hall of Dharamshala, while regular supply of oxygen is coming from Baddi and Palampur, the DC said.

Chief Medical Officer Gurdarshan Singh also presented a report on the COVID situation in Kangra.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)