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Set up control rooms for smooth oxygen supply, states told
New Delhi The Centre on Thursday directed states to set up control rooms to ensure smooth supply of medical oxygen to districts, and to review requirement of cylinders and tankers on a regular basis, with reports coming in of shortages in various parts of the country
New Delhi The Centre on Thursday directed states to set up control rooms to ensure smooth supply of medical oxygen to districts, and to review requirement of cylinders and tankers on a regular basis, with reports coming in of shortages in various parts of the country. In a meeting later on Thursday, the government decided to import 50,000 metric tonne of medical oxygen as a matter of precaution.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the empowered group 2 (EG2) that looks after the availability of essential medical equipment including medical oxygen. The officials also decided to map 12 high disease burden states to oxygen sources so that these states don’t face any shortage.Government data showed about 50% of the country’s supplies were available.
“There has been increasing demand for medical oxygen, especially from the 12 states with high burden of active COVID cases… To give clarity and assurance to the states on oxygen supplied over the next few weeks of surge in cases, a mapping exercise was undertaken… as per the directions of EG2. Sources of medical oxygen and their production capacity was mapped to match the requirement of states and an indicative framework has been developed to guide the states on the sources of medical oxygen,” said Union health ministry in a statement.
The high burden states are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. While the demand in Maharashtra expected to go beyond available production capacity of the state, states like Madhya Pradesh do not have any production capacity to meet demand for medical oxygen. Besides, there is a trend of increasing demand in other oxygen producing states such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, according to the health ministry.
Accordingly, the health ministry has indicated 4,880 metric tonne, 5,619 metric tonne and 6,593 metric tonne to these 12 states for meeting their projected demand as on April 20, April 25, and April 30, respectively.
“There is no shortage of medical oxygen in the country; in fact, there is more than what we currently need, and the supplies are being further ramped up as a measure of abundant precaution,” said a senior government official aware of the matter, who did not wish to be identified.
On Wednesday, the medical oxygen consumption in the country was 3,842 metric tons, which is about 54% of the daily production capacity.
The health ministry reiterated in a statement that there is sufficient production capacity of around 7,127 MT for oxygen in the country, and as per need, the surplus oxygen available with the steel plants is also being utilized. On Thursday, Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani started supplying oxygen from the company’s refinery in Jamnagar to Mumbai, which is among the biggest hotspots of Covid-19 in the country.
The problem may not be in the cities as much as it is outside them, said one expert.
“In cities, oxygen shortage is not usually a problem; it is the smaller towns that may face a supply crunch if hospitalizations increase in a big way. Oxygen therapy is critical in saving lives, and it is not just about giving oxygen but also how it is given that makes a huge difference in treatment outcome. The need is to keep the wastage minimal,” said a senior critical care specialist, in a prominent government-run hospital, who asked not to be named.
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