Corona… Not a single person in India died due to lack of oxygen ..
Chennai: The Central Government has informed the Rajya Sabha that there were no corona deaths due to lack of oxygen in any state or union territory during the second wave of corona in India. There were reports of many deaths in India last April and May due to a lack of oxygen. Mainly in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, many corona patients were reported to have died due to lack of oxygen.
The Supreme Court had also criticized the federal government’s oxygen distribution policy. Opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena, have questioned in the Rajya Sabha how many people died in India due to oxygen shortages and whether the death toll due to oxygen was hidden during the second wave.
Replying to this in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health Bharathi Praveen Pawar said that in India, the health sector comes under the jurisdiction of the states. The federal government estimates the number of casualties released by states and union territories. The federal government has issued guidelines to all states to calculate corona deaths.
No Deaths:
Accordingly, no corona deaths occurred due to lack of oxygen in any state or union territory during the second wave in India. But the demand for oxygen also increased as the number of patients increased during the second wave in India. Oxygen demand went up to 9,000 metric tons.
No nature
Oxygen demand during the first wave was at 3,095 MT. It reached a new peak in the second wave. This was followed by the distribution of oxygen in India according to the needs of the states. The formula for this was developed and the oxygen was distributed based on the active cases of the states.
Oxygen was separated
State Health Ministers, Oxygen Production Centers, Hospitals were consulted and oxygen was continuously supplied to the States accordingly. On May 8 alone, 10,250 metric tons of oxygen were delivered to 26 states in a single day. On that day the demand for oxygen was high.
Recognizing the need for oxygen production, India’s total daily oxygen production was increased from 5,700 MT to 9,690 MT. The amount of oxygen used in factories was reduced. Due to this, the people were given the oxygen they needed immediately. Hospitals’ oxygen demand was monitored by two online centers, the Oxygen Demand Aggregation system (ODAS) and the Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS).
Ration
Guidelines for the use of oxygen in the ration system were introduced last year to reduce oxygen loss. During this period alone 4,02,517 oxygen cylinders were procured and shipped to the States. Signatures were signed for 1,222 oxygen centers across the country.
Cylinders
In addition, 1,050 oxygen cylinders were procured by the central government across the country at a cost of Rs 80 lakh per cylinder. It was duly distributed. As a result, no patients have died due to lack of oxygen in India, said Bharathi Praveen Pawar, the Union Minister of Health.
