SOS for oxygen rings out
Several state governments continued to send emergency messages to the Union government for medical oxygen as hospitals across states — from Ranchi in Jharkhand to Alwar in Rajasthan to Rohtak in Haryana to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh — reported shortages that were putting critical Covid-19 patients at risk, state and district officials said.
The Union health ministry has increased allocation of several states in the past one week since the oxygen demand has spiked due to a rise in infections and hospitalisations, but some states said the enhanced supply was also not enough. They also reported the shortage of tankers and cylinders to store and transport the medical essential.
In Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, family members of some patients went on rampage, damaging furniture and health monitors in Nutema hospital on Sunday after five Covid patients died allegedly due to low oxygen pressure. “We have formed a panel to probe the matter...,” said district magistrate K Balaji.
Dr Manisha Tyagi, secretary of the Meerut unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said this was the third hospital in the past one week where family members got agitated after patients were denied admission due to heavy load, or died due to alleged lack of
oxygen.
In Haryana, there were reports of oxygen shortage from some hospitals in Gurugram, Rohtak, and Karna, but the districts did not officially report any shortage. The quota for Haryana has been increased from 162 million tonnes (MT) per day to 257 MT, but the state is demanding 300 MT every day. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said all districts were being provided oxygen as per their requirement.
Neeraj Kumar, a resident of Sonepat, said he tried for three days to get an oxygen-supported bed for his father, a retired army personnel. “Despite all efforts, we did not get a bed in Rohtak, Jhajjar, and Sonepat. Finally, my father’s friends helped in getting a bed at army hospital, Ambala,” he said. A functionary at PGIMS said all the beds were occupied.
In Bihar, the government on
Monday approved the Oxygen Production Policy 2021, which provides for financial assistance to establish oxygen manufacturing units as several hospitals reported shortage. Bihar has been allotted 194 MT of medical oxygen every day, which was increased to 214 MT on May 2.
At least seven districts in Jharkhand raised oxygen shortage complaints. In Ranchi, some private hospitals stopped taking patients, according to district officials, and oxygen was also in short supply in some Jamshedpur hospitals which stopped taking in new patients.
In Rajasthan, Sania hospital, the biggest private medical facility in Alwar, on Monday put up a notice asking patients or their families to arrange for oxygen on their own since they did not receive their allocated supply. Ved Prakash Gupta, whose brother Hitesh
Gupta is admitted there, said the administration told them that there was no oxygen left, and they should take patients to other hospitals.
Sania Hospital’s CEO, Dr Tayyab Khan, said the hospital only received 10 of 150 oxygen cylinders it requires daily. BJP MLA from Behror, Sanjay Sharma, said they were trying to get oxygen for the hospital.
Officials in Madhya Pradesh said the state is getting only 564MT of the 700 MT oxygen it requires. As a result, they added, they were unable to increase the number of oxygen beds in high Covid-influx cities such as Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Ujjain and Jabalpur. State health commissioner Akash Tripathi asked private hospitals to do a daily audit of oxygen consumption and inform the district administration about the shortage of oxygen at least six hours in advance.
There were also reports of no or low oxygen from hospitals in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said more oxygen tankers would be available by Tuesday. J&K LG Manoj Sinha has directed officials to do an oxygen audit in every hospital. Himachal Pradesh has ordered installation plants in main hospitals. Uttarakand health secretary Amit Negi said six oxygen plants were operating in the state, and nine more will be set up soon.