India Is Running Out Of Oxygen And This Is What The Government Is Doing To Tackle The Crisis

Less than 10 days after insisting there is no shortage of medical oxygen - even as hospitals across the country red-flagged low stocks and Covid patients died - the centre issued its third emergency order in 24 hours - this time to ensure the uninterrupted supply of cylinders across state borders, and to allow manufacturers and suppliers to serve hospitals across India.

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What did the order say?

The order, signed by Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed about the centre's efforts to rapidly scale up production and supply of oxygen cylinders in the face of a deeply alarming and persisting spike in Covid cases across India. "... medical oxygen is an essential public health commodity... impediment in supplies may impact management of COVID-19 patients... ensure (i) no restriction is imposed on movement of medical oxygen between states/ UTs... (ii) no restrictions shall be imposed on oxygen manufacturers and suppliers to limit supplies only to hospitals of the state in which they are located... (iii) free movement of oxygen carrying vehicles into the cities..." Bhalla wrote in his order.

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Additionally, the Railways on Friday formulated a policy for the transportation of liquid medical oxygen in cryogenic tankers after a plea by the government of Maharashtra, one of the worst affected states by the coronavirus pandemic. The policy said the cryogenic tankers will be transported as a paid-for roll on-roll of (Ro-Ro) service to various destinations across states. The circular said Maharashtra's health secretary had requested for the transport of medical oxygen in cryogenic containers.

Which are the measures that are still not in place?

Further, the Centre has decided to import 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of Medical Oxygen to address the shortage in the hospitals, for which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) via its missions abroad is being tasked to identify and explore from where oxygen can be imported.

Also, the central government on Thursday formulated a plan under which the PM-Cares Fund would be used to set up medical oxygen manufacturing units at 100 hospitals so that they become self-reliant.

These measures are still under process and hasn't been implemented yet.

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Why is adequate supply key?

Oxygen supplies are key for hospitals treating people with advanced COVID-19 symptoms, who are often unable to breathe on their own and have to be put on ventilators or be otherwise assisted.

With the number of new Covid cases now increasing by over a lakh every day - over two lakh in each of the past two days - the lack of oxygen cylinders has made for grim headlines.

What are the worst-hit states?

Several states, including worst-hit Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, have complained of a shortage, with some hospitals now refusing to admit people without families offering a signed undertaking - that they will not hold the facility legally responsible for the lack of oxygen.

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The Centre-appointed Empowered Group-2, formed to monitor the supply of essential medical equipment during the pandemic, has been focusing on 12 high-burden states ¡ª Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat, Rajasthan Karnataka, UP, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana ¡ª where oxygen requirement is set to shoot in the coming days.

Over 17,000 tonnes of oxygen will be directed in three batches from states that have surplus oxygen to these 12 states to meet their projected demand. The problem is acute in rural areas, which are going through a rise in COVID-19 cases but have no large storage tankers, and in smaller nursing homes, which rely on daily supply of oxygen cylinders.