PremiumKerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate enhancement in daily oxygen allocation to the state.
Vijayan wrote that due to the spiking cases, Kerala would require 450 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen in the coming days.
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Premium Premium "I greatly appreciate that the Union and Kerala Governments have been effectively working together in our response to the Covid-19 pandemic," he started out by saying.
"Presently, Kerala is witnessing a major surge of Covid-19 cases. The number of active Covid-19 cases aggregate to 4.19 lakh. In the second wave of the pandemic, the state is witnessing a significant increase in the number of patients who require critical care including oxygen support," added Vijayan.
He went on to inform that his government is adhering to the decisions of the Empowered Group-ll of the central government and is supplying medical oxygen to other states as well.
"Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department has issued a cyclonic storm warning forecasting heavy to very heavy rains and winds in parts of Kerala on 14th and 15th May, 2021. It is anticipated that there may be disruptions in electricity supply to oxygen generation plants and filling stations. There can also be disruptions in road transport which would impede timely oxygen supply necessary to save precious lives," he explained.
"The current oxygen generation capacity in Kerala is 212.34 Metric Tonnes (MT) per day. Based on scientific projections, the total daily oxygen requirement for medical purposes in Kerala could rapidly rise to 423.60 MT within the next three days. At present, the storage of oxygen in hospitals is only for less than 24 hours," CM Vijayan wrote.
He said that in view of this, Kerala would not be able to manage without the Centre's support and sought to enhance the daily quota to 450 MT.
"It is also requested that at least 300 MT oxygen may be immediately rushed to Kerala from neighbouring storage points to augment the storage in hospitals in the wake of the impending cyclonic storm," the Kerala CM wrote.
The Kerala government has announced a lockdown in the state from 8 to 16 May to curb the spread of the virus.
The state had earlier urged the Centre to provide more vaccines, a critical new tool in the battle against the deadly virus.
Kerala on Thursday logged 39,955 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 20,20,834, while 97 deaths pushed the toll to 6,150.
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