Amid the ominous surge in Covid-19 cases, hospitals in Bihar are facing acute shortage of oxygen cylinders whose demand has shot up manifold.
In capital Patna, demand for oxygen has almost doubled in the last few days. At Sahyog Hospital in Patliputra Colony, for instance, the demand has doubled from 20 cylinders to 40 cylinders per day. Unable to meet the excess demand, the hospital was refusing to admit Covid-19 patients who require oxygen up to 12-15 litres per minute, said a hospital source.
Sai Hospital and Satyavrat Hospital in Kankerbagh were also facing shortage of oxygen cylinders.
Principal secretary (health) Pratyaya Amrit conceded there was shortage over the last two days and said efforts were on to streamline supply in the next two days. “We have asked two major suppliers, Linde India and Inox Air Products Ltd, to supply medical oxygen on a daily basis instead of alternate days, as is the case now,” he said.
“Two oxygen generation plants, with a capacity of 250 litres oxygen per minute, are operational at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) and the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) while those at seven other state-run medical college hospitals will be functional in a week or 10 days, said Amrit.
Bihar has to essentially rely on West Bengal and Jharkhand for supply of medical oxygen.
{{/usCountry}}Bihar has to essentially rely on West Bengal and Jharkhand for supply of medical oxygen.
{{/usCountry}}In Muzaffarpur, which recorded 265 positive cases on Thursday, oxygen supply failed miserably to meet the demand.
Rambabu, an operator in a company engaged in oxygen production and refilling, said the demand for small oxygen cylinders had gone up by 10 times while demand for big cylinders had increased by three to five times. “Earlier, we used to supply 50 to 60 big cylinders every day. Now, we have to supply 180-200 cylinders daily,” he said.
Another supplier Suresh Kumar said his agency had received a demand of 23 to 25 small cylinders, which has now gone up to 35 to 45 daily.
Officials agreed that the demand had gone up, but said there was no shortage. “There is no reported case of shortage at health centres,” said Dr Vikas Kumar, principal of Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH). “We are using piped system for supply of oxygen. We are also getting 250 big cylinders through outsourcing,” he said.
Civil surgeon Dr SK Chaudhury also dismissed reports of shortage.
In Seemanchal, officials said there was no shortage of oxygen cylinders but expressed fears in case the number of patients increases rapidly.
Purnia civil surgeon Dr S K Verma said “There is no shortage of oxygen cylinders in the district till now and we are ready to deal with any situation.”
“In Kishanganj, there is no critical Covid patient and there is no dearth of oxygen cylinders. The 281 people tested positive for Covid-19 are getting treatment in home isolation,” Kishanganj civil surgeon Dr Shrinanandan said. “There is no dearth of oxygen cylinders.”
Araria civil surgeon Dr M P Gupta said “There are five patients undergoing treatment in Araria. They all are at a Covid designated hospital at Forbesganj. There is no shortage of oxygen cylinders and beds in the district now.”
In Bhabua, Oxygen cylinders were available in sufficient numbers and there was no shortage, additional chief medical officer, Dr KN Tiwary said.
There were 10 ventilator machines available in the district, but these were not operational in the absence of experts, officials said.
Oxygen shortage was not reported from any part of West and East Champaran district.