Oxygen cylinder supply to ease soon, says Etala

Oxygen supply woes plaguing some government hospitals that are treating Covid-19 patients will soon be overcome, health minister Etala Rajendar said on Sunday.

Seven large hospitals in the city and the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Warangal will receive bulk oxygen cylinders before August 10 and this will ensure that there are no further issues relating to supplying oxygen to Covid-19 patients.

The MGM Hospital, along with Osmania, Chest, Sarojini Devi, King Koti hospitals and the Telangana Institute of Medical Studies (TIMS) will also be equipped with liquid oxygen storage facilities. “Once these systems are in place, they can store the oxygen requirement for all patients for at least a week at a time,” Rajendar told reporters after inspecting TIMS and interacting with the patient in the isolation wards and the ICU.

The minister urged people not to wait for their symptoms to get worse before getting themselves checked at a government hospital. Some people were not reacting when they develop a sore throat, cough, or fever or other symptoms associated with Covid. By the time they begin experiencing difficulty in breathing much of the damage is being done to their lungs, he said.

“Even after being placed on supplementary oxygen, oxygen saturation levels among such patients are not rising increasing their risk. I appeal to everyone not to delay seeking medical advice as soon as they begin experiencing any symptoms,” Rajendar said.

He said after Gandhi, the next hospital that is admitting Covid-19 patients is TIMS which has more than 1,300 beds including those in the ICU wards.

“It does not cost more than `10,000 at the most to treat a Covid-19 patient. There is absolutely no need for people to rush to private hospitals and spend lakhs of rupees for the treatment which is available for free at the government hospitals. The key to quick recovery is early reporting to a hospital,” he said.

Rajendar again warned that private hospitals fleecing patients and playing on the fears among people, will face tough action from the government.