As many states in the country continue to grapple with oxygen shortage, the Kerala government has said it has a reserve of 510 metric ton of the life-saving gas at production centres post-delivery. The government is now mulling the possibilities of increasing the reserve stock upto 1000 MT to meet any adverse situations, authorities said. In the wake of the number of COVID-19 cases crossing the 30,000 mark in the southern state, Health Minister K K Shailaja convened a special high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the availability of oxygen. In view of the grim situation, it has been decided to set up audit committees in the state, district and hospital levels for the effective utilisation of the available oxygen in the state, she said.
A quick intervention by staff saved the lives of 14 patients on oxygen support in the Parbhani district hospital in Maharashtra as the pipeline supplying the life-saving gas developed a leak after a branch of a tree fell on it, officials said on Wednesday. After noticing the leak on late Tuesday night, the staff of the hospital shifted the patients on jumbo oxygen cylinders for breathing, Deputy Collector Sanjay Kundetkar told PTI. Around 11.30 pm, a branch of a tree fell on the pipeline which carries medical oxygen from the storage tank to the casualty and burns ward of the hospital, which caused leakage. The fault was detected and simultaneously 14 patients admitted in the casualty section were shifted on jumbo oxygen cylinders for breathing. The supply of oxygen was switched off for repairing the leak, he said.
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here received two tonnes of liquid medical oxygen on Tuesday morning, an official from the hospital said. The official asserted that they are in a better situation as compared to the last few days when the hospital in central Delhi faced a crisis due to severe shortage of the life-saving gas. The hospital said it has 6000 cubic metres of oxygen in storage tanks which may last for 10 hours. We received two tonnes of liquid medical oxygen at 6 am on April 27. Yesterday, we had received a tanker carrying 10 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen. We are in a better situation as compared to the last few days and we hope this continues, said the official.
There is "no question of any crisis in oxygen" at the moment as the state has a daily average production of 457 MT of the gas whereas the requirement is close to 223 MT per day, a senior state government official said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged his counterparts in other states to provide oxygen to the national capital, saying all available resources are proving to be inadequate owing to the severity of COVID 19. Kejriwal s request for supply of oxygen came following the death of 20 patients in Jaipur Golden Hospital here as Delhi s desperate hunt for the life-saving gas continued amid rising COVID-19 cases. I am writing to all CMs requesting them to provide oxygen to Delhi, if they have spare. Though Central govt is also helping us, the severity of corona is such that all available resources are proving inadequate, Kejriwal tweeted in the evening.