Tag: medical oxygen

  • COVID-19: After Uddhav government’s plea, Railways develops policy to transport oxygen

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Railways has 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, to combat the pandemic.

    The policy, made public late Friday night, said the cryogenic tankers will be transported as a paid-for roll-on-roll (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.

    “The matter has been examined. Competent authority has approved the transport of liquid medical oxygen in cryogenic containers,” it said and detailing the charges to be levied for the service.

    The circular said the staff accompanying liquid oxygen trucks to be loaded on the Ro-Ro service will be charged second class ticket for the journey and only two persons will be allowed to accompany the truck.

    The empty flow direction of the containers will also be charged by the railways Maharashtra is among states worst-affected states by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Earlier this week, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said there was a shortage of medical oxygen in the state and had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support for addressing the issue.

    Amid a steep rise in coronavirus cases, the prime minister on Friday undertook a comprehensive review to ensure adequate medical grade oxygen supply in the country and called for ramping up its production.

    With cases hitting a new peak in several parts of the country, the demand for medical oxygen has increased as it is a critical component in the treatment of COVID-19-affected patients.

    A record single-day rise of 2,34,692 cases and 1,341 fatalities pushed India’s COVID-19 tally to 1,45,26,609 and the death toll due to the viral disease to 1,75,649, the health ministry said on Saturday.

    The number of active coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed the 16-lakh mark, the ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed.

  • PM Modi reviews medical oxygen availability as India mulls to import

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reviewed the availability of medical-grade oxygen supply in the country amid the alarming rise of Covid-19 cases.

    The meeting comes a day after the government decided to import 50,000 metric ton of oxygen from other countries after first claiming that there is enough production capacity within India to meet the demands.

    On Friday, Modi chaired a high-level meeting with officials of various ministries and departments in which the projected use of oxygen during the coming 15 days across 12 high burden states was discussed. These states are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

    The Centre has allocated 4,880 MT, 5,619 MT and 6,593 MT to these states for meeting their projected demand as on April 20, April 25, and April 30, respectively.

    On Thursday, the Centre had said that there is sufficient production capacity of around 7,127 metric ton of oxygen in the country, and as per need, the surplus oxygen available with the steel plants is also being utilized. On Monday, the medical oxygen consumption in the country was 3,842 MTs, which is 54% of the daily production capacity, the Union Health Ministry had also said.

    However, later in the day, it shared that the Ministry of External Affairs has been sounded out to find source nations from where 50,000 MT medical oxygen can be imported.

    In the review meeting, it was suggested that the oxygen will be produced as per the capacity of each plant. The PM asked officials to ensure seamless and free movement of tankers carrying oxygen throughout the country.

    India added a record 2,17,353 new coronavirus infections in a day taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,42,91,917, while active cases surpassed the 15-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

  • PM Modi reviews medical oxygen availability as India mulls to import

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reviewed the availability of medical-grade oxygen supply in the country amid the alarming rise of Covid-19 cases.

    The meeting comes a day after the government decided to import 50,000 metric ton of oxygen from other countries after first claiming that there is enough production capacity within India to meet the demands.

    On Friday, Modi chaired a high-level meeting with officials of various ministries and departments in which the projected use of oxygen during the coming 15 days across 12 high burden states was discussed. These states are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

    The Centre has allocated 4,880 MT, 5,619 MT and 6,593 MT to these states for meeting their projected demand as on April 20, April 25, and April 30, respectively.

    On Thursday, the Centre had said that there is sufficient production capacity of around 7,127 metric ton of oxygen in the country, and as per need, the surplus oxygen available with the steel plants is also being utilized. On Monday, the medical oxygen consumption in the country was 3,842 MTs, which is 54% of the daily production capacity, the Union Health Ministry had also said.

    However, later in the day, it shared that the Ministry of External Affairs has been sounded out to find source nations from where 50,000 MT medical oxygen can be imported.

    In the review meeting, it was suggested that the oxygen will be produced as per the capacity of each plant. The PM asked officials to ensure seamless and free movement of tankers carrying oxygen throughout the country.

    India added a record 2,17,353 new coronavirus infections in a day taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,42,91,917, while active cases surpassed the 15-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

  • COVID patient dies after ward boy allegedly removes oxygen support in MP hospital

    By ANI
    SHIVPURI: A man battling with COVID-19 has died at a district hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri after a ward boy allegedly removed oxygen support.

    The family members demanded strict action against the hospital staff. However, an investigation has been ordered into the matter, as per the Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) Shivpuri, Arjun Lal Sharma.

    The deceased, Surendra Sharma has died on Wednesday morning.

    “My father was having a breathing problem. His condition was not good and he was given oxygen support. But last night, the hospital staff removed his oxygen supply. When I reach here, I requested the staff including a nurse to give him the oxygen but they denied and that is why he lost his life,” said Deepak Tiwari, the son of the deceased.

    According to the CMHO, a team of three doctors has been formed and they will submit the report within 48 hours. After that further actions will be taken.

    “There is no crisis in oxygen in our hospital. Still, we will look into the matter and guilty will be punished definitely, ” the CMHO said.

    We will investigate the matter, he added. 

  • ‘Use medical oxygen rationally, ensure no wastage’: Centre to states amid COVID-19 second wave

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday asked states to make rational use of medical oxygen and ensure there is no wastage while stressing that there is sufficient stock of oxygen in the country.

    Medical oxygen is a critical component in the treatment of COVID-19 affected patients.

    An inter-ministerial Empowered Group (EG2) of officers was constituted during the COVID pandemic in March 2020 to ensure the availability of essential medical equipment including medical oxygen to the affected states, the Union health ministry said.

    “Along with the ramped up production of the oxygen manufacturing units and the surplus stocks available, the present availability of oxygen is sufficient,” the ministry said, adding that the country is producing oxygen at its full capacity everyday for the last two days.

    Besides, states have been asked to set up control rooms to ensure smooth supply of oxygen to the districts according to need, review requirement of cylinders, tankers etc. the ministry said in a statement.

    ALSO READ | COVID-19 second wave: Hospitals struggle across India; oxygen, remdesivir supplies key pain point

    A detailed daily mapping of sources for supply of medical oxygen to the affected states is under preparation to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply, it said.

    The exercise will be carried out on the basis of detailed daily deliberations between officers of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, health ministry, steel ministry, various critically affected states, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, along with key stakeholders including representatives from oxygen manufacturers, All India Industrial Gas Manufacturers Association according to the directions of the inter-ministerial Empowered Group (EG2), it added.

    “It is pertinent to note that there is sufficient production capacity of around 7127 MTs for oxygen in the country, and as per need, the surplus oxygen available with the steel plants is also being utilised,” the ministry said.

    “The country has a daily production capacity of 7127 MT of oxygen per day. Against this, the total production has been 100 per cent since past two days, as directed by the EG2, since supply to medical oxygen has gone up rapidly,” the ministry added.

    On April 12, the medical oxygen consumption in the country was 3842 MTs, that is 54 per cent of the daily production capacity.

    The maximum consumption of medical oxygen is by Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, followed by Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, the ministry stated.

    With increasing cases, the medical oxygen consumption will need to keep pace with the requirements of the states.

    For this, the current oxygen stocks of the country, including the industrial oxygen stocks with the manufacturing plants, is more than 50,000 MTs, the ministry said.

    ALSO READ | ‘Remdesivir no life-saving drug against COVID-19’: Maharashtra task force’s latest advisory

    The EG2 has initiated several measures to ensure supply of medical oxygen to various affected states, it said.

    Some of the key measures include increasing oxygen production according to production capacity of each oxygen manufacturing plant which has resulted in 100 per cent production in the oxygen manufacturing units, ramping up availability of oxygen in the country, it said.

    The measures also include utilising surplus stocks available with steel plants and mapping requirements of top states with oxygen sources, including with sources across the state borders and those available at steel plants, for greater clarity and assurance for the states on the oxygen sourcing, the ministry said.

    Thus, Maharashtra has been able to utilise surplus medical oxygen on daily basis from steel plants like JSW in Dolvi (Maharashtra), SAIL in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and from JSW in Bellary (Karnataka).

    Similarly, Madhya Pradesh is able to supplement its oxygen supply from the Steel plant in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), the ministry said.

    According to the ministry, the challenge at present is to move oxygen from states with less necessity to those with increased necessity.

    Mapping of surplus sources with states that have greater need for oxygen is being finalised in consultation with the manufacturers, states and other stakeholders, it said.

    This has been undertaken through coordinated planning between the Union and state governments to map their requirements up to April 30 with the available sources and stocks of oxygen in the country, the ministry said.

    A subgroup has been formed under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways with Ministry of Railways and transport departments of states to facilitate the movement of tankers for Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO).

    ALSO READ | India records highest-ever spike with over two lakh COVID-19 cases, 1,038 die in last 24 hours

    Moving of oxygen tankers by rail is also being actively worked out, it said.

    Some of the key decisions taken in the context of seamless movement of oxygen tankers include orders given by PESO (Petroleum and Safety Organisation) for conversion of argon and nitrogen tankers for use as oxygen tankers; thereby the fleet available for transportation of tankers has been enhanced, and free movement of oxygen tankers inter-state has been facilitated through MoRTH without registration in the other states, it said.

    Further, industrial cylinders have been permitted to be used for transporting medical oxygen after due purging and placing of orders for the purchase of another one lakh oxygen cylinders by the health ministry is also being undertaken, it said.