Panaji, May 4 (IANS): Days after government resident doctors claimed that Covid patients in the state have died due to oxygen shortage, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has taken charge of the crucial aspect of oxygen management, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Tuesday.

Rane also said that the state had been sanctioned two oxygen plants under the PM CARES initiative.

"The main thing is that CM has taken oxygen management under his wing, to prevent any communication gap. We decided that among us, CM will look after the oxygen management," Rane told reporters here.

The development comes at a time when differences have cropped up between Rane and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, which the opposition has alleged is hampering the state's overall response to the pandemic, amid a steep rise in Covid-19 infections as well as deaths in the state.

Last week, the Goa Association of Resident Doctors in a letter to the top health official, had said that patients had died in the state's Covid facilities, due to lack of oxygen.

Rane also said that setting up of the oxygen plants would help address the state's future need of oxygen.

"Two oxygen plants have been sanctioned under PM CARES. We are in the process of getting them commissioned... If we start oxygen plants, we will be able to look after the future. No one had imagined that such an oxygen requirement would be faced nationwide or would be confronted by such a pandemic," the Health Minister said.

Goa currently has 25,839 active cases, while 1,320 persons have died in Goa due to Covid-19 related complications.