Amid a record surge in cases for the past few days which is set to push the Covid-19 tally in India to over 36 lakh and the fatalities beyond 63,000 by Monday, the Government is now a worried lot as it reviews the availability of ventilators and ICU bed facilities across the States.
The Government fears that if the Covid-19 positive cases and non-Covid patients increase, there will be a huge burden on the existing critical medical care system needing oxygen cylinders and ICU beds.
Though the Government has been maintaining that India has one of the lowest global Covid fatality rates and is working on the coronavirus vaccine development, officials in the Union Health Ministry admit that the rise in positive cases does not bode well for the existing medical infrastructure.
Though a lot of infected people are recuperating in home isolation as well as in hospital, the demand for consumption of oxygen by Covid and non-covid patients is all set to increase in the coming months. Usually, 3 to 4 per cent of the total Covid-19 cases are serious and critical and moderate.
For instance, with no let-up in the cases, the Assam government is apprehending a crisis of oxygen cylinders and is trying to get it from neighbouring West Bengal and Jharkhand.
On the other hand, in Tripura, with a positivity rate of 21 per cent, the Covid-19 situation is turning out alarming as in many other tier 2 cities .
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that consumption of oxygen by Covid and non-covid patients is gradually increasing in Assam since last month and currently per day oxygen requirement is 33 MT against the state’s production capacity of 37.86 MT per day.
“As on Saturday, 433 patients are on oxygen support. If the number of Covid and non-covid patients increased, it would be a serious challenge for the health department to manage the oxygen.
If we at all manage oxygen from West Bengal and Jharkhand, it would also be a tough task to carry the oxygen in time,” he told the media on Sunday.
Presently, as per the Central Government, 0.29 percent of cases are on ventilators, 1.93 per cent on ICU and 2.88 per cent of cases are on oxygen.
Presently, more than 338 lakh N-95 masks, nearly 135 lakh PPEs and about 27,000 ventilators have been provided by the Centre to the States/UTs.
