[Covid-19] No deaths due to lack of oxygen specifically reported by States/UTs during second wave: Central government

While reply to a question tabled in Rajya Sabha, the Union government has stated that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported by States or Union Territories during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. .This reply came in a response to a set of questions posed by KC Venugopal over oxygen shortages during the second wave of the pandemic..Venugopal had asked the Minister of Health and Family Welfare to answer the following queries:(a) whether it is a fact that a large number of COVID-19 patients died on roads and hospitals due to acute shortage of oxygen in the second wave.(b) the total demand of oxygen by the States and total oxygen supplied, State-wise during the last three months.(c) the steps Government has taken so that there will be no shortage of oxygen in the country as the experts are of the view that third wave can also come in which large number of patients will require oxygen?."Health is a State subject. Detailed guidelines for reporting of deaths have been issued by Union Health Ministry to all states/UTs. Accordingly, all states/UTs report cases and deaths to Union Health Ministry on a regular basis. However, no deaths due to lack of oxygen has been specifically reported by states/UTs", reads the reply made by Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar.The reply added that the government of India has supported the States and undertook a series of actions including provisioning medical oxygen, and other consumables to ensure the clinical care of COVID-19 patients in view of the steep rise of the COVID-19 trajectory in the country during April- May 2021.In this regard, the government further said that the following measures were taken by the Central and State government to tackle the situation:1. Enhancement of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) production from 5,700 MTs in August 2020 to 9,690 MTs in May 2021.2. Restrictions on industrial use of oxygen; and augmentation of availability of containers. 3. A dynamic and transparent framework for allocation of medical oxygen in consultation with States/UTs and all the stakeholders such as relevant Ministries, manufacturers/suppliers of liquid oxygen etc. was prepared. Further, online digital solutions viz. Oxygen Demand Aggregation system (ODAS) and Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS) have been developed to ascertain the demand for medical oxygen from all medical facilities and to track their transportation. 4. In order to avoid wastage of medical oxygen, guidelines on the rational use of oxygen were issued on September 25, 2020. These were further revised and disseminated to States on April 25, 2021. 5. Further, the States were provided with oxygen equipment such as oxygen cylinders, concentrators and Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants. A total of 4,02,517 oxygen cylinders have been procured/ are being procured and distributed to the States. Also, 1,222 PSA Oxygen generation plants have been sanctioned. Out of these, as on July 15, 2021, 237 plants have been commissioned. Apart from this, 295 PSA plants are being installed by different Ministries. States have also been asked to prepare State level oxygen generation plants. 5. With a view to increase the storage capacity of Liquid Medical Oxygen in the States, under the emergency COVID Package-Part-II, 1,050 Liquid Medical Oxygen Tanks along with MGPS at a cost of Rs. 80 Lakh each have been approved..[Read answer]