Pune’s oxygen demand goes up by 359% in less than three months

PUNE As the number of Covid019 cases continue to rise, so has the demand for oxygen in the district

PUNE As the number of Covid019 cases continue to rise, so has the demand for oxygen in the district.

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While Pune earlier did provide oxygen supply to the district, under the current circumstances the surge in demand means that Pune needs oxygen supply from nearby districts now.

The demand for oxygen has gone up by 359% in the district from January to April. The number of critical cases continues to rise, adding pressure on hospital infrastructure.

The demand for oxygen in the Pune district and Pune division has gone up drastically in the past three months.

While the demand was about 67.5 metric tonnes, as of January 22, it went up to 310.46 metric tonnes as of April.

This is a 359% of rise in the district. In Pune division, comprising five districts, oxygen demand has gone up by 294% from January to April.

As of April 7, the district had of 84,357 active cases, 62, 931 in home isolation and 13,741 in non-oxygen isolation beds. A total of 7,685 are critical patients in the district.

Of the 7,685, 5,352 needed oxygen beds, 1,574 needed ICU beds without ventilators and 759 needed ventilators.

Earlier, health minister Rajesh Tope had said that if need be, industrial units consuming higher proportions of oxygen would be shut down to cope up with the demands of Covid-19 patients.

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said, “In a meeting with state chief ministers, the Prime Minister said that a Jindal oxygen plant which is in Raigad would be supplied to meet the city’s needs. Sassoon hospital has got an oxygen supply machine donated by Atlas Copco which will help to maintain the supply.”