COVID-19: Ensure Medical Oxygen Supply, Life Support Equipment In Hospitals, Centre Tells States

As India prepares for a possible new wave of COVID-19, triggered by the BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron, the Union Health Ministry has asked states and Union Territories to ensure the supply of medical oxygen and life support equipment at hospitals.

In a letter to all states and UTs, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani asked them to ensure Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen-generating plants are kept fully functional and regular mock drills are conducted to check them.

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Oxygen, life support equipment key in India's preparedness

Operationalisation and maintenance of these medical infrastructures are of utmost importance to meet any eventuality even though the number of cases in the country is low now, the letter said.

Therefore, you are requested to direct all the concerned departments to ensure the availability of functional Life Support Equipment such as Ventilators, BipAp and SpO2 systems along with their consumables is there, said the letter.

The Centre has also asked that Oxygen control rooms should be reinvigorated at States/UTs level for prompt resolutions of oxygen-related issues and challenges.

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On-boarding of all healthcare facilities utilising oxygen to oDAS platform for daily oxygen demand and consumption be monitored for implementation said Dr Agnani in the letter.

Lessons from 2021

In 2021, during the second wave of COVID-19, India faced an acute shortage of ventilators, hospital beds and medical oxygen, resulting in several deaths.

Hospitals and doctors had to plea on social media begging for Oxygen supplies to keep their critically ill patients on life support alive.

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China struggles with COVID surge

This comes as the Omicron sub-variant BF.7 is causing unprecedented levels of infections in China.

According to reports, as China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed.

Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds.

China hiding its real toll

Experts forecast between a million and 2 million deaths in China next year, and the World Health Organization warned that Beijing¡¯s counting would ¡°underestimate the true death toll.¡±

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Right from 2019, when the virus first emerged in Wuhan, China has been hiding its actual infection and death tallies.

From 2019 till now, the Chinese government has only acknowledged 5,241 COVID-19 deaths, which is unrealistic compared to the figures from every other country in the world.

Given that more than 90 per cent of Indians are vaccinated and have hybrid immunity, health experts believe that BF.7 may not lead to a deadly wave and serious hospitalisations in the country.

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