With severely infected COVID19 patients in the national capital struggling for their breaths, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged the central government to provide medical oxygen as many hospitals are reportedly running out of their supplies.
“Serious oxygen crisis persists in Delhi. I again urge the Centre to urgently provide oxygen to Delhi. Some hospitals are left with just a few hours of oxygen,” Kejriwal tweeted an hour back. I urge the central govt with folded hands to urgently provide oxygen to Delhi, he said.
Yesterday, the national capital reported 23,696 fresh COVID-19 cases and 240 deaths. From 10 pm last night, the city is also under a week-long lockdown to control the spread of the virus.
Apart from Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister of Delhi, also tweeted about the severe shortage of oxygen in the capital’s hospitals.
“All hospitals are calling up regarding oxygen supply. Oxygen supply from different states has been stopped. To avoid any jungleraj between states on oxygen supply, the central government should remain compassionate and active,” Sisodia tweeted.
Delhi government’s urgent demand from the central government comes a couple of days after Kejriwal termed the oxygen shortage in Delhi as an emergency.
The chief minister also wrote to the Union Minister of Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal, seeking his intervention in the matter.
The Press Trust of India reported that the Delhi government had set up a 24-member committee to ensure ‘rational’ use of oxygen for COVID19 patients in the capital.
An order issued by the Health Department had stated that the ‘Oxygen Audit Committee’ will identify areas of wasteful consumption.
Meanwhile, on April 18, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare tweeted informing that “162 PSA [pressure swing adsorption] oxygen plants have been sanctioned by Government of India for installation in public health facilities in all States. These will augment medical oxygen capacity by 154.19 MT [metric tonnes].”
The ministry went on to inform that “out of 162 PSA oxygen plants, 33 have been installed. By end of April, 2021, 59 will be installed. By end of May, 2021 80 will be installed.” This means only 20 per cent of the sanctioned oxygen plants have been installed. It is not clear how many of these installed plants are operational at present.
As per the healthy ministry’s tweet, of the 33 PSA oxygen plants installed, five are in Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three each in Chandigarh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana; and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The Indian government has also floated its global tender to import 50,000 metric tonnes of oxygen. The bids opened on April 16 and will close on April 28.
A number of state governments, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, have been reporting medical oxygen shortage in their hospitals where serious COVID19 patients are being treated.
On April 17, Gaon Connection published its ground report on the status of oxygen shortage in various districts and states.
Also Read: Running out of breath as scramble for oxygen cylinders begins
Kejriwal’s statement today came hours after Sisodia stated that around 2,700 beds will be added at different hospitals and facilities in the national capital in the next few days.
“I urge those who need hospitals to check the mobile app beforehand for bed availability and then proceed further. The number of COVID-19 beds in Delhi on April 3 was 6,071 which has gone up to 19,101 on April 20,” Sisodia said at a virtual press conference.
There are 320 beds in Burari Hospital, which will be increased to 800. The capacity of beds at Ambedkar Nagar Hospital will be increased from 200 to 600. The beds at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital will be increased from 250 to 750, he said.
According to data shared by the Health Department, the national capital has reported 823 deaths due to the deadly virus in the last five days.
