Sonu Sood has an important message to share for those who are using oxygen concentrators

Sonu Sood on Sunday took to his Twitter handle to share a message for people who are using oxygen concentrators to fight COVID-19. The country is fighting a deadly second wave of COVID-19 and Sood urged people to keep their doors or windows open when they use a concentrator.

An oxygen concentrator is a medical device that concentrates oxygen from ambient air. It is in high demand due to increasing COVID-19 cases in the country. These concentrators capture and filter the air, unlike oxygen cylinders which can only store a fixed amount of oxygen.

Sood wrote, "People who are using oxygen concentrators pls keep your doors/ windows open as it extracts from open air. Closed doors/windows with an AC ON is not advisable , stay safe. ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU"

People who are using oxygen concentrators pls keep your doors/ windows open as it extracts from open air. Closed doors/windows with an AC ON is not advisable , stay safe.
ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU 🙏

— sonu sood (@SonuSood)

As of May 2, India registered a record of 3,689 COVID-19 casualties pushing the total death toll to 2,15,542 with the total cases spiking to 1,95,57,457 as the nation logged in 3,92,488 fresh infections of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The 1 PM data on Sunday showed that the active cases mark has already surpassed 33,49,600 while recording a steady increase comprising over 17% of the total infections. Further, the national COVID-19 recovery rate has drooped to 1.10%, as per data.

Govt permits oxygen concentrator imports via post, courier for personal use under gift category

The government has allowed imports of oxygen concentrators for personal use through post, courier or e-commerce portals under the gift category amid increasing demand for oxygen due to rising COVID-19 cases, the commerce ministry said on Saturday.

The exemption for oxygen concentrators is allowed only for a period till July 31, 2021, it said.

Currently, all imported goods declared as gift with customs authorities attract customs duty and integrated GST. 'The government has included the import of oxygen concentrators for personal use, through post, courier or e-commerce portals, in the list of exempted categories, where Customs clearance is sought as gifts,' the ministry said.

Earlier, oxygen concentrators were not mentioned in the list. Now, it has been added on account of its high demand due to COVID-19 cases. 

(with PTI inputs)