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COVID-19 patients, families beg for oxygen at India’s hospitals

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The unprecedented surge in India’s coronavirus infections has led to COVID-19 patients and their families openly begging for oxygen outside hospitals.

The president of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association, Saket Tiku, who made this revelation in a statement on Wednesday, said the biggest challenge patients and their families face as the infections continue to grow at an alarming rate, has been transporting oxygen to where it is urgently needed.

Tiku added that hospitals in India are not equipped with independent plants that generate oxygen directly for patients, primarily because they require an uninterrupted power supply, which is a rarity in many states.

“India’s coronavirus infections rate, growing at the fastest pace in the world, has left families and patients pleading for oxygen outside hospitals, the relatives weeping in the street as their loved ones die while waiting for treatment.

READ ALSO: Covid-19 committee warns against medical tourism, travels to countries witnessing third wave of pandemic

“As a result, hospitals typically rely on liquid oxygen, which can be stored in cylinders and transported in cryogenic tankers. But amid the surge, supplies in hard-hit places like New Delhi are running critically short.

“The demand for oxygen from hospitals has nearly tripled to 8,000 metric tonnes, the federal government told the Delhi High Court last week. India’s total production was 7,500 metric tonnes of oxygen per day,” Tiku said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/apr/26/india-tearful-relatives-beg-for-oxygen-and-hospital-beds-for-covid-patients-video

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