In a press conference today, May 8, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government needs an oxygen supply of at least 700 metric tonnes (MT) per day to run the COVID hospitals in the national capital. However, it has received 739 MT oxygen only once on May 5.
“Delhi received only 487 MT oxygen yesterday [May 7]. Which is much less than the current need of approx 700MT. With this deficit it would be hard to manage proper supply for all hospitals,” said Sisodia.
In the wake of the oxygen shortage being felt in the capital, the minister has urged the central government to provide Delhi with 700 MT oxygen daily as directed by the Supreme Court.
Yesterday, May 7, the Supreme Court directed the central government to supply 700 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to Delhi everyday till further orders. This decision came after top hospitals in the national capital are struggling to address an upsurge in COVID19 cases in Delhi.
Also Read: Running out of breath as scramble for oxygen cylinders begins
Sisodia quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi who recently said that India is an ‘oxygen surplus’ country with daily production of 10,000 tonnes while the need is 7,000-7,500 tonnes. There is a need to manage the oxygen supply and the Centre should help with that, the deputy chief minister said.
Delhi recorded 19,832 new cases in the last 24 hours.; 341 fatalities due to COVID were reported. Of the 22,097 total hospital beds, 19,922 are occupied.
Meanwhile, in another press conference today morning, May 8, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government can vaccinate people in Delhi in three months if it gets adequate vaccine doses.
“To complete vaccination within three months, we need to vaccinate three lakh [300,000] people every day. As of today, we are administering vaccines to one lakh [100,000] people in a day,” he said in the virtual conference.
The chief minister also informed that there are 15 million people above 18 years of age in Delhi. Therefore, the government needs 30 million doses to administer vaccines to them. “Out of this, Delhi Govt has got only 40 lakh [four million] doses so far. We need 2.6 crores [26 million] more doses,” said Kejriwal.
The chief minister said if the Delhi government is given 80-85 lakh [8-8.5 million] doses of COVID-19 vaccine per month, it can complete vaccination within three months.
Also Read: We can vaccinate Delhi in three months, if we get sufficient doses: CM Arvind Kejriwal
