COVID-19: Delhi's Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals says its oxygen supply might run out by midnight

NEW DELHI: Amid the shortage of medical oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients in the country, Delhi's Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals has raised an alarm that unless it gets replenishment, its oxygen supplies will probably last only till Wednesday midnight.

Speaking to ANI, P Shivakumar, Managing Director, Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals said, "The situation is quite grim. We have supplies that will probably take us till midnight today. If we do not get replenishment on time, there can be a serious crisis."

Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals also issued a press statement and complained about disrupted oxygen supply and said, "The hospital has been receiving multiple queries from many quarters on the availability of medical oxygen supply for its patients. In this regard, the hospital would like to highlight that it currently has only 10-12 hours of oxygen supply available for all its patients with no alternatives. This level is dangerously low with supply chain disruptions and delays being witnessed over the past week."

According to the managing director, the continuation of the disrupted or delayed supply will have serious ramifications for the admitted patients. "The continuation of this disrupted or delayed supply will have serious ramifications for our patients, especially the over 350 oxygen-dependent COVID patients. We are working closely with the state and district administration, along with our suppliers, to improve the availability and timeliness of delivery. We strongly urge all the State Governments and the Centre to assist us in ensuring uninterrupted supply in order to avert any catastrophic patient-related incident," said Shivakumar.

However, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed that the Central government has increased Delhi's quota of oxygen. "Central government has increased Delhi's quota of oxygen. We are very grateful to centre for this," he tweeted.

The government also floated a short-term global tender to import 50,000 metric ton of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO).

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has floated this global tender through HLL Lifecare, which is a government enterprise. The tender, which was floated on April 16, states that the imported Liquid Medical Oxygen will be used by various hospitals of the Centre and State governments.