In view of the rising coronagraph in the twin-city and severe shortage of oxygen for patients, private doctors associated with the Mira Bhayandar unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have come forward to resolve the crisis.
Alarmed by the shortage of medical oxygen and Remdesivir injections, Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) Mayor Jyotsna Hasnale and Deputy Mayor Hasmukh Gehlot on Monday held an emergency meeting comprising doctors from private and public healthcare facilities treating Covid-19 patients, healthcare personnel, and officials from the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) to chalk out an elaborate roadmap to diffuse the crisis and avoid inconvenience and disruption in treatment.
Sensing the seriousness of the situation, IMA’s Dr. Rajeev Agarwal highlighted the need of setting up an oxygen production plant here urgently. “If the MBMC allots a space ad-measuring 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, the IMA can help setting up and operate a medical oxygen production plant to produce at least 500 jumbo cylinders every day. However, after space allotment and an official nod it could take 30 to 45 days for making the plant operational,” said Dr. Agarwal.
“Yes, it’s a workable proposal and we are seriously thinking of earmarking a plot for the association to set up the facility and resolve the oxygen crisis as soon as possible,” said Gehlot.
Going by the huge surge in the number of active cases, around 800 to 900 cylinders are needed per day while treating critically ill patients at various Covid-19 healthcare facilities in the twin-city, officials said.
The MBMC reported 374 fresh detections on Monday. The latest additions have catapulted the total number of cumulative positive patients to 35,346 and active cases have soared to 3,972. With six more casualties reported on a single day, the death toll has mounted to 866. Consequently, the case fatality rate (CFR) continues to hover above 2.45 percent even as the recovery rate has dipped to 86.31 percent.