Maharashtra: If daily oxygen requirement crosses 700MT, restrictions will return

MUMBAI: Even as more Covid-19-related curbs have been eased, the state has decided that a "complete lockdown" will be re-imposed if the requirement for medical oxygen rises to 700 million tonnes (MT) per day. This threshold level for bringing back the restrictions was cleared by the state cabinet on Wednesday while approving the easing of restrictions from August 15.
Currently, the state has the capacity to produce 1,300MT of liquid medical oxygen daily and government is setting up an additional 450 medical-grade oxygen plants, of which 141 have started operations. Certain units are also augmenting their supply. "With all this, our production can go up to 1,700-2,000MT,” said public health minister Rajesh Tope.
Tope said, “At the peak of the second wave, our oxygen requirement had touched 1,800MT and we had to bring oxygen from other states as well. As per projections, the peak of the third wave will be 1.5 times higher than the second. It is projected that oxygen requirement could go as high as 3,800MT per day and hence the decision that restrictions will be brought back once oxygen requirement touches 700MT.”
. “In the third wave we cannot rely on any other state for help as they too may be in a difficult situation,” he said. Officials said this was one of the lessons from the second wave.
“The state delayed in locking down during the second wave. Mild restrictions were imposed on April 5, nearly 1.5 months after the beginning of the second wave. This decision (to introduce a threshold for bringing back curbs) was taken to ensure that there is no need to build political consensus once cases start surging," said an official.