News Analysis India

Tag: oxygen crisis

  • Centre did politics over oxygen crisis in Delhi; tried to hide deaths, alleges minister Satyendar Jain

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday accused the Centre of doing politics over the issue of oxygen crisis here during the second wave of the Covid pandemic, and also trying to stop the formation of a city government’s panel to probe deaths allegedly due to its shortage.

    His remarks in response to a question during a press conference came a day after the Delhi High Court said that it saw no difficulty in the constitution of a high-powered committee (HPC) by the AAP government to probe the deaths caused by the alleged medical oxygen shortage.

    The court, which was dealing with a plea to operationalise the HPC, noted the Delhi government’s stand that the committee would not attribute any fault to any hospital and any compensation will be paid and absorbed by the government alone.

    Jain said the Delhi government had set up a four-member panel comprising medical experts in June and the files were sent to the Delhi Lt governor for approval.

    However, the Centre tried to stop it via the LG office, he alleged.

    “The Centre also did politics over the issue of oxygen crisis and even said in Parliament that no deaths due to oxygen shortage was reported,” Jain further alleged.

    They did a “wrong thing” by “trying to hide deaths” that may have occurred due to shortage of the life-saving gas, Jain charged, and added that the court had now cleared the way for the formation of the panel.

    The high court on Tuesday had also recorded that as per the Delhi government, the criteria for determining compensation will be open to scrutiny and its task would not overlap with that of a sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court on allocation and utilisation of oxygen.

    “The job of this committee is to probe any death that any person claims has taken due to oxygen shortage, whether at home or a hospital. The panel will investigate and recommend a compensation of up to Rs 5 lakh accordingly. It will not probe any medical negligence, that is the job of the medical council,” Jain told reporters.

    Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had on July 21 charged the Centre with trying to “hide its fault” and alleged that its “mismanagement” and change in oxygen distribution policy after April 13 had caused shortage of oxygen in hospitals across the country, leading to a “disaster”.

    Jain said several media channels were reporting live on the oxygen crisis issue during the second wave of the pandemic in Delhi.

    Was it all wrong, he asked.

    The number of COVID-19 cumulative cases on Tuesday stood at 14,38,556.

    Over 14.13 lakh patients have recovered from the virus, while the death toll stands at 25,085.

    On the UK rules related to Covishield vaccine, the Delhi minister said the MEA will respond on this, but, “I feel there is no question of not recognising it,” as it is the same vaccine used in the UK but with a different name of AstraZeneca.

    The UK government on Wednesday added Covishield to an updated international travel advisory.

    The move follows widespread condemnation of the Serum Institute of India manufactured vaccines not being included in a list of eligible COVID-19 vaccines recognised under Britain’s reviewed international travel norms, effective from October 4.

    The updated advisory means that Indians fully vaccinated with Covishield will no longer be required to undergo compulsory 10-day self-isolation at home or declared location on entry to England.

  •  PM Modi asks officials to ensure oxygen plants are functional at earliest

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the augmentation and availability of oxygen across the country and instructed officials to ensure that the oxygen plants are made functional at the earliest.

    Officials briefed Prime Minister about the progress on the installation of PSA oxygen plants across the country. More than 1500 PSA oxygen plants are coming up across the nation which includes contributions from PM CARES as well as various ministries and PSUs, a statement by the PMO said.

    PSA oxygen plants contributed by PM CARES are coming up in all states and districts of the country. Prime Minister was informed that once all PSA oxygen plants coming up through PM CARES would be functional, they would support more than 4 lakh oxygenated beds, the statement added.

    PM Modi instructed the officials to ensure that these plants are made functional at the earliest and to work closely with the state governments for the same. Officers apprised PM Modi that they are in regular touch with officers from state governments regarding fast-tracking the oxygen plants, it added.

    PM Modi asked officials to ensure there is adequate training of hospital staff on the operation and maintenance of oxygen plants. He also directed officials to ensure that each district has trained personnel available. Officials informed him that there is a training module prepared by experts and they are targeting training of around 8000 people across the country, the statement said.

    PM Modi also said that we should deploy advanced technology like IoT to track performance and functioning of these oxygen plants at a local and national level. Officials apprised the PM about a pilot being done using Internet of Things (IoT) for monitoring the performance of the oxygen plants.

    Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Secretary Health, Secretary MoHUA and other important officials were present in the meeting. 

  • Navy steps up Covid relief measures, nine warships transporting oxygen, medical equipment from abroad

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy has stepped up its Covid relief Operation Samudra Setu II with ships from all three Naval Commands in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Kochi deployed to ship Liquid Medical Oxygen and associated medical equipment from friendly foreign countries in the Persian Gulf and South-East Asia.

    Indian Navy has three Commands – Western, Eastern and Southern. The simultaneous warship movements continue on the Western and Eastern seaboards.

    On the Western seaboard, while Indian Naval Ship (INS) Talwar was entering the port of New Mangalore in Karnataka on Wednesday May 5, during the same time INS Kolkata, deployed in Persian Gulf, was departing Kuwait. 

    INS Talwar ferried two 27-ton liquid oxygen tanks from Bahrain, and INS Kolkata is carrying two 27-ton oxygen tanks, 400 oxygen cylinders and 47 concentrators.

    In addition, four warships are also en route to Qatar and Kuwait to bring back around nine 27-ton oxygen tanks and more than 1500 oxygen cylinders from these countries. On the Eastern Seaboard, Indian Naval Ship Airavat, departed from Singapore on Wednesday with more than 3600 oxygen cylinders, eight 27-ton (216 tons) oxygen tanks, 10000 Rapid Antigen Detection Test Kits and seven concentrators while INS Jalashwa remains deployed in the region, standing by to embark on its mission at short notice.

    (Photo | Indian Navy)

     INS Shardul, the Landing Ship Tank of the Southern Naval Command at Kochi, is also on its way to the Persian Gulf to bring three liquid oxygen-filled cryogenic containers. It may be recalled that INS Jalashwa and INS Shardul had also participated in Operation Samudra Setu last year to repatriate stranded Indian citizens from abroad. The deployment of nine warships as part of the ‘Operation Samudra Setu II’ forms a part of the multiple lines of effort by the Government and the Indian Navy to supplement the oxygen requirement in the country.

  • Augumenting oxygen supply from all sources: Centre to Gujarat HC on COVID crisis

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: The Centre has told the Gujarat High Court that it is augmenting oxygen supply for COVID-19 patients from all available sources within India and also importing it from other countries through “diplomatic channels as well as personal intervention of the political executive”.

    In a report on the supply of medical oxygen submitted before the HC on Monday, the Centre said a total allocation of 8,410 metric tonnes of oxygen has been made for 22 high burden states and Union Territories based on their demand, the Centre told the HC on Tuesday.

    The states should also make an effort to manage their oxygen demand through rational usage of this “scarce and critical resource” by continuous and close monitoring of hospitals and stringent audit of the oxygen usage, it said A division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice B D Karia had sought the Centre’s response while hearing a PIL taken up suo motu (on its own) on the COVID-19 situation.

    The Union government said it is “augmenting oxygen supply from all available sources within India and also importing oxygen from other countries using not only the diplomatic channels but also personal intervention of the political executive.”

    The process is going on at the national level and is also being undertaken at an international level, it stated.

    Any deviation by any judicial order based upon fact, situation and considerations existing in one state will “completely frustrate the whole exercise and shall have a cascading effect”, the Centre said.

    “It is submitted that while this exercise is primarily in the nature of managing the supply side of medical oxygen, it is imperative that there are simultaneous efforts to manage the demand side by all the states by focusing on rational usage of this scarce and critical resource in the present circumstances through continuous and close monitoring of all hospitals as well as stringent measures of oxygen usage audit,” the Centre said.

    It said the supply of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) by the steel sector increased from 1,000 MT per day in the first week of April 2021 to around 2,600 MT on April 21.

    From April 28 onwards, Gujarat was allocated 975 MT oxygen, it said.

    Based on the projected requirements of these critically affected states, 4,880 MT, 5,619 MT and 6,593 MT were mapped for the supply of medical oxygen to 12 states with high number of COVID-19 cases, to meet their projected demand as on April 20, April 25, and April 30, respectively, and duly approved, it said.

    The initial demand for 15 states was revised to 5,619 MT from 4,880 MT as on April 20, with the requirement of Gujarat being at 1,000 MT, it said.

    Against its production capacity of 847 MT as on April 28, Gujarat required 1,000 MT LMO, and was allocated 975 MT, out of which the state received 902 MT, the central government said.

    “No stone is left unturned to ensure quickest possible transit of medical oxygen,” it said, adding that the defence aircraft and Indian navy ships are being used for the purpose.

  • Indian Army’s Base hospital in Delhi faces Oxygen supply shortage

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The situation at the Indian Army’s Base Hospital (Delhi Cantonment) turned distressing on Tuesday after their oxygen supply from the Delhi Government was further curtailed.

    An army officer said, “The requirement of oxygen at Base Hospital is 3.4 MT but the Delhi Government was allotting only 1 MT till now. But the problem arose when it was reduced further to 0.42 MT from last night.”

    Due to soaring Covid numbers among their ranks, the Army had converted the Base Hospital in the Delhi Cantonment area into a Covid-19 hospital last week to provide “extensive” medical assistance.

    Initially, the hospital had 340 Covid-19 beds, of which 250 beds were oxygenated. It later expanded the capacity to 650 beds, of which 450 were oxygenated by April 30. “Currently all the beds are occupied with serving personnel, veterans and their dependents,” said the officer.

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    But such is the crisis now that the Army needs to expand the number of beds even further thus requiring even more oxygen,  an officer said.

    However, the Indian Army’s Western Command clarified that there is an adequate supply of oxygen in the base hospital.

    The Western Command tweeted, “It is clarified that there is an adequate supply of oxygen in the Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment, Western Command assures all serving persona, veterans and dependents, of our assistance and full support. StaySafe.”

    The Base Hospital comes under the Delhi Area which is part of the Western Command of the Indian Army.

    Talking about the oxygen supply the officer quoted above said that we will make arrangements and will manage the oxygen supply somehow. 

  • Government to set up temporary hospitals with 10,000 oxygenated beds near industrial units

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The government expects to make 10,000 oxygenated beds available in a short period of time by making temporary hospitals near industrial units which produce oxygen of requisite purity to boost the supply of the life-saving gas to fight COVID-19.

    Following multiple meetings held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday to review the COVID-19 situation, a statement said the government HAS also explored the feasibility of conversion of existing nitrogen plants to produce oxygen, and various such potential industries where the existing nitrogen plants may be spared for production of oxygen were identified.

    After a meeting on the usage of gaseous oxygen, the government noted that many industries like steel plants, refineries with petrochemical units, industries using rich combustion processes and power plants among others have oxygen plants that produce gaseous oxygen.

    “This oxygen can be tapped for medical use,” it said.

    The strategy being used is to identify industrial units which produce gaseous oxygen of requisite purity, shortlist those which are closer to cities, dense areas and demand centres and establish temporary COVID care establishments with oxygenated beds near that source.

    A pilot for five such facilities had already been initiated, and there is good progress on this, the government said, adding that this is being accomplished through PSUs or private industries operating the plant and with the coordination of the central and state dispensations.

    “It is expected that around 10,000 oxygenated beds can be made available in a short period of time by making temporary hospitals near such plants. State governments are being encouraged to set up more such facilities with oxygenated beds to deal with the pandemic,” it added.

    Modi also reviewed progress on the setting up of pressure swing adsorption (PSA)  plants and was informed that around 1,500 PSA plants are in the process of being established through the contribution of PM Cares Fund, PSUs and others.

    He directed officials to ensure speedy completion of these plants, the government said.

    Exploring the feasibility of conversion of existing nitrogen plants to produce oxygen, another meeting chaired by Modi discussed the process of converting the existing PSA nitrogen plants for the production of oxygen.

    In the nitrogen plants, carbon molecular sieve (CMS) is used whereas zeolite molecular sieve (ZMS) is required for producing oxygen, the government noted, adding that by replacing CMS with ZMS and carrying out a few other changes such as oxygen analyzer, control panel system and flow valves among others, existing nitrogen plants can be modified to produce oxygen.

    “On deliberation with industries, so far 14 such industries have been identified where conversion of plants is under progress. Further 37 nitrogen plants have been also identified with the help of industry associations,” it said.

    A nitrogen plant modified for the production of oxygen can be either shifted to a nearby hospital or, in case it is not feasible to shift the plant, it can be used for on-site production of oxygen, which can be transported to the hospital through specialized vessels or cylinders, it asserted.

    Several senior bureaucrats, including Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, Road Transport & Highways Secretary and & other senior officials, participated in the meetings.

  • As Centre asks states to judiciously use oxygen, MP’s Khandwa Medical College model could be trendsetter

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: With the centre asking states to ensure judicious use of oxygen and reduce the waste of liquid medical oxygen at a time when the demand for oxygen is growing rapidly across the country due to the COVID-19 surge, the model of plausible usage of oxygen successfully adopted by the Government Medical College in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh could be the perfect trendsetter for all states.

    The Government Medical College in Khandwa district of MP (Khandwa is among the few districts of MP which have till date managed to control new COVID-19 cases) has put in place a successful model through which it has been able to judiciously use and save the scarce liquid medical oxygen.

    The medical college has put in place a mélange of best practices, spanning from correct identification and re-classification of patients as per oxygen requirement to segregating patients without oxygen need to separate floor and from monitoring the correct oxygen use based on actual need and forecasting the demand based on admitted patient requirement to the training of human resource as per sudden rise and corresponding change management.

    The five-floored Medical College hospital has monitored the correct oxygen use based on actual need and forecasting the demand based on admitted patient requirement.

    While patients needing no oxygen are admitted on the fifth floor and disconnected from direct pipeline, those admitted on the fourth floor (also disconnected from direct pipeline) are getting oxygen support between one to five liters per minute from oxygen Concentrators.

    On the third floor Type B cylinders/centralized oxygen supply (NBS) of one to 15 liters supply per minute is being ensured, while on the second floor centralized oxygen supply (ventilator/BiPAP/HFNC/NBS) is being ensured to reduce wastage of oxygen.

    According to Khandwa district collector Anay Dwivedi, the use of best and judicious practices have resulted in reducing the usage of oxygen from 100 cylinders per hour to 30 cylinders per hour, thus helping saving 70 cylinders per hour and 1800 cylinders in a day.

    “We even talked to the oxygen tanker drivers who told us that by lifting the tanker’s front wheel up to 1.5 ft, 300-350 kg more oxygen can be secured through the tank’s dead storage. We acted over it by first lifting the tanker’s front wheel by nine inches and managed to get 75 kg extra oxygen from the tank’s dead storage, which was enough to support the requirement of the hospital’s Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) for three additional days. We’re lifting the tankers by up to 1.5 ft by a wooden wedge, through which we’re able to get 300-350 kg extra oxygen, which is equal to three or more hours supply to our college,” Dwivedi added.

    “Line pressure, line and supply issues too are being studied by our engineers so that more and more liquid oxygen can be saved,” he maintained.

  • PM Modi reviews preparations by Armed Forces to assist in COVID management

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the preparations by the Indian Armed Forces deployed to assist the civil administration in COVID Management. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat informed that the number of medical personnel from the armed forces is being beefed up.

    As per the official statement of the Prime Minister Office, the CDS briefed the PM, “All medical personnel from armed forces who have retired or taken pre-mature retirement in the last 2 years are being recalled to work in Covid facilities within proximity of their present place of residence. Other medical officers who retired earlier have also been requested to make their services available for consultation through medical emergency helplines.”

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    In another step, earlier the defence ministry on Friday announced that it was extending the tenure of SSC doctors in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) till December 31, 2021 in order to “to tide over the current surge in medical services.” “This will augment the strength of AFMS by 238 more doctors,”.

    PM was also informed that all medical officers on staff appointments at Command HQ, Corps HQ, Division HQ & similar HQ of Navy and Air-Force will be employed at hospitals.

    The CDS informed the PM that nursing personnel are being employed in large numbers to compliment the doctors at the hospitals. PM was also briefed that oxygen cylinders available with armed forces in various establishments will be released for hospitals.

    PM Modi was informed of the medical facilities created in large numbers and where possible military medical infrastructure will be made available to civilians.

    PM also reviewed the operations being undertaken by IAF to transport oxygen and other essentials in India and abroad.

    Further, as discussed Kendriya and Rajya Sainik Welfare Boards and Officers posted in various headquarters in veterans cells may be instructed to coordinate the services of veterans to extend the reach to maximum extent possible including in remote areas.

  • Districts with over 10% positivity or 60% bed occupancy liable for intensive actions, Centre tells states

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Amid the explosive rise in Covid-19 cases across India, the Centre on Sunday asked states to take “intensive action” in districts reporting test positivity rate of over 10 % and ICU and oxygen bed occupancy of over 60 % through restrictive measures such as night curfew and limiting intermingling of people.

    The government also said that in such areas, all offices, both government and private, should function with a maximum staff strength of 50%.

    The existing infrastructure may not be able to cope with this kind of surge, said the central advisory to states.

    “On account of a very high number of daily new Covid cases being reported for the past few days, the Union government has expressed the urgent need for states to consider strict COVID management and control measures in surge areas to bring the situation under control to contain the spread of infection in areas reporting higher cases and surge,” said the Centre in a statement.

    The local containment will essentially focus on three strategic areas of intervention, which include containment, clinical management, and community engagement, said the Union ministry of health and family welfare

    Identification of areas for local containment should be a dynamic exercise aiming to break and suppress the chain of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and save precious lives in areas reporting higher surge in cases and deaths and exhibiting overstretched healthcare systems, it added.

    It was pointed to the states that a daily status report should be submitted to the state government by the District and the consolidated report at the state level may also be sent to the Centre.

    The advisory stresses that such districts should coordinate availability of oxygen, other related logistics, drugs in collaboration with state officials and ensure their rational use while oxygen therapy for the admitted cases shall follow the guidelines issued by the Centre on the rational use of oxygen.

    The directive asks states to analyse the requirement of health infrastructure so as to manage the present and projected cases for next one month and initiative necessary to ensure sufficient oxygen-supported beds, ICU beds, ventilators, ambulances including creation of makeshift hospitals, as needed.

  • Government waives basic customs duty, health cess on import of oxygen and related equipment

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Taking a slew of measures to boost medical oxygen availability in the country amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the central government on Saturday decided to waive basic customs duty and health cess on the import of oxygen and connected equipment for a period of three months with immediate effect.

    It was also decided at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exempt basic customs duty on the import of COVID-19 vaccines with immediate effect for a period of three months, a government statement said.

    This will boost availability of these items as well as make them cheaper, it said, adding that Modi also directed the revenue department to ensure seamless and quick custom clearance of such equipment.

    Modi emphasized that there was an immediate need to augment the supply of medical grade oxygen as well as equipment required for patient care both at home and in hospitals and asked all ministries and departments to work in synergy to this effect.

    He was told that basic customs duty was exempted on Remdesivir and its API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) recently, and a suggestion was made that the import of equipment related to providing oxygen to patients needs to be expedited, the statement said, announcing the measures.

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    The items to benefit from the decision include medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrator along with flow meter, regulator, connectors and tubing vacuum pressure swing Alabsorption (VPSA) and pressure swing absorption (PSA) oxygen plants, cryogenic oxygen air separation units (ASUs) producing liquid/ gaseous oxygen.

    Oxygen cannister, oxygen filling systems, oxygen storage tanks, oxygen cylinders, including cryogenic cylinders and tanks besides any other device from which oxygen can be generated are among several other items under this category.

    The statement noted that the government has taken a lot of measures in the last few days to improve supply of oxygen and medical supplies.

    “IAF planes are bringing in cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore. IAF is also transporting oxygen tanks in the country to reduce travel times. Similarly, in a major decision yesterday, free food grains will be given 80 crore Indians for the month of May & June,” it added.