Oxygen allotment up, Gujarat train will add to relief

Gurgaon: For the first time in two tense weeks for hospitals, which have also reported 12 deaths in the past 10 days of Covid-19 patients that have been linked to oxygen shortage, Monday soothed nerves a bit.
The city received 43 tonnes of medical oxygen on Monday, up seven tonnes from the daily supply of 35 it had been getting so far, after the state government increased its allotment by 5 metric tonnes to 40. An oxygen train from Hapa in Gujarat — which railway minister Piyush Goyal tweeted about on Monday morning — is expected to arrive at Gurgaon station in the early hours of Tuesday with another 30 metric tonnes which, officials said, will help considerably ease nerves and oxygen supply worries of designated Covid hospitals in the city that have spent two nerve-wracking weeks sending out frantic SOSs and anxiously counting down to the next consignment.
Officials in the district administration said the 43 metric tonnes received on Monday came from plants at Panipat and Bhiwadi.
Deputy commissioner Yash Garg said the city will receive more medical oxygen from Gujarat soon. “Our oxygen allotment has been increased to 40 metric tonnes. On Monday, we managed to get 43 metric tonnes. Today, there have been no SOS calls. Things are under control. We are able to manage at present,” said Garg, who has been scrambling oxygen to hospitals sending SOSs.
The pandemic’s sharp surge, which saw Gurgaon add nearly 60,000 Covid-19 cases in April, flooded the city’s hospitals with patients. Since many of these patients needed oxygen support, demand for medical oxygen shot up and currently stands at around 55 metric tonnes. Oxygen cylinder refilling stations account for the gap in demand and supply.
The train consignments and the increased allotment will reduce pressure on the plants. Officials said eight metric tonnes of oxygen have been given to five refilling stations – Max Air, Star Oxygen, GK Papreja, SK Gases and Kalinga.
“The situation is better. We are now getting supply on a daily basis that lasts us 24 hours. Hopefully, it will become even better in the days to come at all hospitals,” said Dr Devlina Chakravarty, managing director, Artemis Hospitals.
The district administration is also assessing oxygen requirements of smaller hospitals and nursing homes. Garg said the administration was also trying to make more oxygen concentrators available. “We will soon be able to set up small units in RWAs where Covid patients can get treatment through oxygen concentrators. We are working on it. What we have observed is that the situation goes out of hand because of panic. People need to stay indoors as this surge is very infectious,” Garg said.