Coronavirus: Covid-19 environment

India faces shortage of medical oxygen as Covid-19 cases climb

Some hospitals in worst-hit Maharashtra forced to turn away critically ill patients

A medical worker pushes an oxygen cylinder for a patient in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital in New Delhi, on July 17, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

States in India are reporting a shortage of medical oxygen, which is needed to treat Covid-19 patients, as demand outstrips supply amid an unprecedented increase in cases in recent weeks.

The situation is particularly acute in Maharashtra, India's worst-hit state which has more than one million cases. As at yesterday morning, it had 280,138 active cases, up from 150,966 on Aug 1, resulting in a substantial and unforeseen increase in demand for oxygen.

According to local media, hospitals in smaller cities in the state are not admitting critically ill patients and some are moving those under their care to bigger hospitals in the state capital Mumbai.

While supply has been tight throughout the pandemic, Dr Amit Thadhani, director of Niramaya Hospital in Navi Mumbai, told The Straits Times it is "close to being completely broken down" in recent days. "Many hospitals are getting pretty desperate for adequate supplies of oxygen."

Currently, 40 out of the hospital's 55 Covid-19 beds are occupied. This requires a daily supply of 90 jumbo cylinders with a capacity of about 7,000 litres of oxygen each, but the hospital has been able to secure only around 20 cylinders a day.

Dr Thadhani said: "There is a situation where we have to monitor which patients we can manage with reducing the (oxygen) flow safely, and which patients where there is no possibility of compromise at all. We are not in a position to take fresh ICU (intensive care unit) admissions until we are assured of the oxygen supply."

Officials have sought to attribute the crisis to an uneven distribution of medical oxygen producers in the country and deficiencies in the supply chain rather than a lack of actual production.

This crisis even prompted the Maharashtra government to specify last Monday that 80 per cent of the state's production of oxygen has to be reserved for Maharashtra's hospitals, instead of those in other states.

This affected some hospitals in Madhya Pradesh that depend on oxygen supply from Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the federal government issued a directive to all states last Friday "to ensure no restriction is imposed on the movement of medical oxygen".

With more than 94,000 new cases reported yesterday, India's tally has crossed 4.75 million, with 78,586 deaths. The number of active cases has also gone up from 565,103 on Aug 1 to 973,175.

A similar oxygen shortage has been reported in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab hospitals required around 1,000 jumbo cylinders a day in April, but demand has gone up to nearly 10,000 daily, pushing the state to divert supply from industries.

Mr Rupinder Singh Sachdeva, managing director of Hitech Industries, a key producer of medical oxygen in Punjab, said only 20 per cent of his supply would go to hospitals. Now, his entire supply has been diverted there.

He told The Straits Times: "Yet, a hand-to-mouth situation is going on." The firm's daily procurement of liquid oxygen from outside the state has also fallen, from around 30 to 20 tons as suppliers meet rising demand elsewhere.

While states have begun setting up additional medical oxygen plants, ramping up production is a long-drawn process. "Setting up a new plant takes around one year," added Mr Sachdeva.

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases continue to rise in Indonesia. Yesterday, it reported its sixth consecutive day of over 3,000 new cases, bringing the total number to 218,382 and deaths to 8,723.

The capital Jakarta will reimpose stricter and wider restrictions from today. Residents who test positive will now be isolated in government facilities.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 14, 2020, with the headline India faces shortage of medical oxygen as Covid-19 cases climb. Subscribe