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Delhi RWAs ask govt to arrange oxygen for Covid patients in home care
New Delhi: Families of Covid-19 patients in home care have requested the government to make arrangements for oxygen cylinders and refills, with the boom in cases choking supplies and driving up prices
New Delhi: Families of Covid-19 patients in home care have requested the government to make arrangements for oxygen cylinders and refills, with the boom in cases choking supplies and driving up prices.
The shortages have meant that families must contend with travelling long distances, waiting for extended periods, and paying exorbitant rates for oxygen cylinders that may last just a few hours.
Garvit Singhvi, a resident of Greater Kailash-1, said arranging oxygen support for his parents, who tested positive for Covid-19, was difficult. His father’s oxygen saturation had dropped to 85%.
“We wanted to have oxygen support at home while we hunted for hospital beds. The first fight was to arrange an empty cylinder, which I got from a friend in Hisar. But getting it refilled was a struggle,” he said. “There was a long queue at one of the oxygen plants in Mohan Cooperative area. But we didn’t get the oxygen even after waiting for nearly three hours. We then somehow managed it from another plant after waiting for around five hours.”
Singhvi said his parents were lucky to get admission in a hospital.
SB Singh, president of Lajpat Nagar 3 RWA, said they have had difficulties getting oxygen cylinders refilled. The RWA has maintained 12 oxygen cylinders and one concentrator for its residents. He said, “It is difficult to find a place where we will get oxygen. A few days ago, we sent our volunteers to an oxygen plant in Naraina at 6am, but got just two cylinders, that too at 7pm.”
He said all the cylinders in his area are in use. “While supply to hospitals should be the priority, we request the government to make arrangements to ensure that people in home care who need oxygen get it easily.”
A district magistrate said, “The priority is first given to hospitals. But we have kept a quota of oxygen for people who are not in the hospital setup. The queues are long, but we are trying to ensure that people don’t have to wait long.”
A senior official with the central district said, “We don’t have an oxygen plant in our district. People have to go to Mundka and Burari to get oxygen.”
Satyajit Vaish, a resident of Panchsheel Park, who has been trying to arrange oxygen for residents in need, said, “There are so many people who are undergoing treatment at home, as they are finding it difficult to get a bed in the hospital. It is not possible for people to go out and stand in a queue for hours on end to get a cylinder refilled. We are trying to help people get oxygen at home. But getting the cylinders refilled is such a huge challenge. It is good that the government has regulated the supply to check on black-marketing, but there is a need to streamline the oxygen supply for people undergoing treatment at home.”
RWAs said that earlier, they could get oxygen refilled from dealers in their areas. “But most oxygen refillers have stopped taking calls. Not everyone can travel to the oxygen plant. The government should make some provision to resolve this problem. There should be some more centres where people can go to get the cylinders refilled,” said Pankaj Agarwal, president of Safdarjung Enclave RWA.
