Indian health ministry asks states to stockpile oxygen supplies as COVID-19 cases surge
India on Wednesday urged state ministries of health to stockpile medical oxygen supplies towards containing a significant surge in Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections across the country.
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said since the beginning of January, the number of active COVID-19 cases in India had increased over 13 times to more than 955,000.
It said the exponential infection surge could have been caused by the Omicron variant, adding that the exact data was still unclear, given the delays in genome sequencing. Doctors also stressed that the Delta variant still circulates in India.
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to the Indian states’ health ministries, as quoted by Indian news agency ANI that “the emerging scenario calls for immediate measures by State/UTs (union territories) to ensure optimal availability of medical oxygen at all concerned health facilities.”
The official also said that all top-level medical institutions should have life-support equipment, including artificial lung ventilation devices.
Also, BiPAP (non-invasive ventilation), SpO2 (supplemental oxygen delivery systems), and appropriate expendable materials in sufficient quantities to meet potential needs.
India remains the second country after the United States with the highest number of COVID-19 infections.
It has detected 36,070,510 COVID-19 cases with 34,630,536 people recovered and 484,655 dead.
