After two private hospitals flagged short supply of medical oxygen, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, has alerted Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan to act fast on the issue.
In a tweet, Mr. Venkatesan said he received information about demand for oxygen increasing in private hospitals in Madurai. He also drew the attention of the Health Secretary by tagging him in his tweet.
When asked, Mr. Venkatesan said he received SOS from two private hospitals in the city for replenishment of medical oxygen. “One hospital, with 11 COVID-19 patients on oxygen support, has oxygen stock that could last only till Monday night. With the oxygen supply seeming hard to come by, they sought my intervention. I have alerted the local health officials and the hospital has been promised fresh stock and uninterrupted oxygen supply,” Mr. Venkatesan said.
A corporate hospital has also sought his help for oxygen supply. “Since the State has prioritised oxygen supply for government hospitals, private hospitals face problems,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP said. This hospital has around 400 inpatients. “Though the hospital is not facing any imminent shortage of oxygen, there is a panic about routine supply getting affected, given the current situation,” Mr. Venkatesan said.
Stating that he had made attempts to facilitate oxygen supply for the hospital from Kerala, Mr. Venkatesan said that the Tamil Nadu government should be awake to the oxygen supply situation at this time of crisis. However, the MP said that government hospitals were getting regular supply till now.