Some hospitals say short of oxygen amid rising tide of Covid-19 patients

A record 12,699 patients were admitted in Delhi’s 16,979 beds reserved for Covid-19 treatment, as of Saturday evening.

The demand for oxygen in Delhi hospitals has shot up by four or five times, said vendors, as Covid-19 patients flooded care facilities in the Capital, even as some said they will be forced to stop admissions unless supply shortages were overcome.

Chief minister, during a video press briefing, acknowledged the shortage of oxygen in the city. (Representative Photo/Reuters)

A record 12,699 patients were admitted in Delhi’s 16,979 beds reserved for Covid-19 treatment, as of Saturday evening.

Chief minister, during a video press briefing, acknowledged the shortage of oxygen in the city and said the state was working towards adding more oxygen beds in the Capital.

“There is an acute shortage of medical oxygen across hospitals in Delhi. Vendors say they do not have any more,” said Dr GS Grewal, president, Delhi Medical Association.

He said, “If hospitals were using 20 cylinders a day earlier, they are using at least 40 cylinders now.”

Similarly, Dr PK Bharadwaj, secretary of Delhi Voluntary Hospital’s forum (an association of hospitals), said he received messages from at least three hospitals on Saturday about severe oxygen shortages.

“If a hospital was using 100 oxygen cylinders during the November peak, it is using over 250 now. Vendors can also provide only so much over the capacity. All our consumables, equipment, everything is stretched,” said Dr Bharadwaj.

Daryaganj’s Sanjeevan hospital is one of the facilities faced with the oxygen crisis.

“My vendor has told me that he cannot supply any more oxygen. I have a small plant that can produce around 24 cylinders a day, which won’t last long with the high-flow oxygen that Covid-19 patients need. I will admit only as many patients as I can manage on that number,” said Dr Prem Agarwal, medical director, Sanjeevan hospital.

The solution, he said, was to divert supply from industrial plants.

Bhairav Shah, north India head for Inox Air products, one of the four main oxygen suppliers in Delhi, said, “We have already informed our industrial customers that we cannot supply them for now. We need to send oxygen to the hospitals. Delhi needs about 50,000 metric tonnes of oxygen normally, but the requirement has now increased four to five times.”