Amid the second wave of the pandemic sweeping across the country, an oxygen concentrator that normally costs about Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 is now being sold for a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh.
It is a device that sucks oxygen from the atmosphere and delivers it to a person suffering from respiratory illness. It is a life-saving instrument meant for home use by those Covid-19 patients whose oxygen saturation dips below 80 mm Hg.
While the demand for oxygen concentrators has gone through the roof, oximeters, that indicate the level of oxygen in an individual’s body, are out of stock in most medical stores. Those who have stock, are selling it at a price between Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,000 which is about three to four times the MRP of the device.