The Health Secretary on September 15 stated that India has a capacity of manufacturing 6900 metric tonnes of oxygen on a daily basis. There is no shortage of oxygen supply at the national level. To date, India requires around 2800 metric tonnes for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 health use. Also, India requires around 2200 metric tonnes of oxygen for industrial purposes.
On September 15, there was a surplus of 1900 metric tonnes of oxygen. Yesterday, according to reports, roughly 6 percent of COVID-19 patients used oxygen support.
However, the main problem arises when there is no oxygen inventory management. The problem also arises when there is a possible shortage of alert generation mechanism at the hospital level. These problem needs monitoring by states and Union Territories government. The replenishment of oxygen needs to be done in a timely manner.
The Health Ministry of India has held detailed meetings with states. It has been advised to start a control room for monitoring oxygen supply and requirements on a daily basis. A virtual control room has also been started at the level of the Union Government. A Joint Secretary each from the Health Ministry and the Department of Industries are in charge. Also, an officer each from PESO and DCGI are also in charge of the virtual control room.
This week, there is a recovery of more than 38.59 lakh patients from COVID-19 in India. This can be considered as one of the highest recoveries in the world. According to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre, this is the highest number of recoveries in the world.
Presently, there are only 4 states in India that have more than 50,000 active cases. The states are- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
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