COVID-19 crisis: MHA directs states to ensure availability, uninterrupted supply of oxygen

On Friday, the MHA directed the states to ensure the availability of adequate medical oxygen and its uninterrupted supply amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases. Writing to the Chief Secretaries of all states, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla stressed that oxygen is a pre-requisite for moderate and severe cases of the novel coronavirus. Thereafter, he mentioned that some state governments are trying to curb the inter-state movement of oxygen supplies from the manufacturing units situated in their respective districts. 

Terming medical oxygen as an "essential public health commodity", he called upon the states to remove all restrictions on the movement of medical oxygen between the states. Moreover, Bhalla stated that there should be free movement of oxygen-carrying vehicles into the cities at all hours. He also asked the states to constitute multi-disciplinary teams comprising representatives of Health, Transport, Industry, and other departments to continuously monitor the availability of medical oxygen. Any problems in this regard must be immediately brought to the notice of the Central Control Room established in the Ministry of Health. 

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COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 52,14,677 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 41,12,551 patients have recovered while 84,372 fatalities have been reported. There are 10,17,754 active cases in the country. With 87,472 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 recovery rate soared to 78.86%. At present, the recovered cases outnumber active cases by 30,94,797.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu contribute 59.8% of the active cases. Additionally, 59.3% of the total recoveries have been reported from the aforesaid states. The case fatality rate stands at 1.62%. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan refuted the notion that there is a shortage of oxygen. Noting that the current capacity for production of oxygen is slightly more than 6,900 metric tonne, he urged every state to ensure proper inventory management so that oxygen can be replenished in time. 

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