COVID crisis: DRDO's O2 plants, Oxygen Express to aid Delhi's fight against shortage

As India continues to reel under the unprecedented wave of COVID-19, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday took to his official Twitter handle and informed that Oxygen Expresses are on their way to Lucknow, Faridabad, and Jabalpur to deliver 117 MT, 79 MT and 23 MT of medical oxygen to these states respectively. Prakash Javadekar also informed that the National Capital will receive 244 MT more oxygen on Tuesday. In the last 24 hours, a cumulative of 450 MT of LMO was also supplied to Delhi, he added. 

Prakash Javadekar: 'DRDO to build 5 Oxygen Plants'

As the National Capital continues to report a shortage of medical oxygen, the Union Minister further informed that DRDO will install 5 Medical Oxygen Plants in Delhi ad Haryana in the first week of May. Stating that the equipment has arrived at AIIMS & RML Hospitals in New Delhi today, Javadekar said that each of these Oxygen Plants can cater to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 Litres/Minute and charge 195 cylinders per day. 

COVID-19: Railway Ministry enables live tracking of Oxygen Express

In a key development, the Centre on Tuesday enabled live tracking for all the trains running across the country under the name of 'Oxygen Express'. An initiative of the Indian Railways to help in combating the shortage, the Oxygen Express collects oxygen from places with surplus supply, like Vishakhapatnam and Bokaro, and delivers it to States and Union Territories experiencing a shortage amid the deadly second wave of COVID-19. 

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal pointed out that Oxygen Express is on mission mode to proactively provide Oxygen for COVID-19 patients across India, and went on to confirm that tracking has been enabled in the Oxygen Express. "Track the real-time journey of Oxygen Express trains swiftly delivering medical Oxygen tankers via Green corridors," he wrote and also embedded the link for live tracking. 

Current COVID-19 situation in India

As the world continues to battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, India is currently, witnessing a sudden surge in the number of Coronavirus cases. So far, India has recorded over 2,02,82,833 positive cases, out of which, 1,66,13,292 have recovered and 2,22,408 have died. As per the latest reports, in the past 24 hours, 3,57,229 new cases, 3,20,289 fresh recoveries and 3,449 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 34,47,133. As per ICMR, the total number of samples tested for COVID-19 up to May 3 is 29,33,10,779. Meanwhile, the number of samples tested on May 3 is 16,63,742.

(Image: PTI, Twitter: @PrakashJavadekar)