With the unabated surge in coronavirus cases and many of the COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen support, the private hospitals notified as COVID-care centres are grappling to cater to the burgeoning demand for medical oxygen.
The demand for oxygen cylinders has peaked so high that more than 990 oxygen cylinders were consumed by around 49 COVID care centres including 46 private hospitals and three government hospitals in the district in a single day on Tuesday, sources said.
Of the total 1400 COVID-19 tests conducted at the designated test centres in the district on Tuesday, around 500 tested positive for COVID-19.
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A tweet by the close associates of a 74-year-old woman undergoing high-flow oxygen therapy for shortness of breath at a notified Covid care ward in a private hospital in Khammam expressing concern over the depleting stocks of oxygen at the hospital late on Tuesday night went viral.
An imminent precarious situation was averted following the timely intervention of the district authorities who ensured timely supply of fresh stocks of oxygen cylinders to the hospital and also to the remaining authorised Covid care centres in the district on Wednesday morning.
Some private hospitals reportedly referred several COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen support to the District Headquarters Hospital on Tuesday owing to limited stock of oxygen cylinders, sources said.
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The district received a fresh stock of around 24.5 metric tonnes of oxygen in two separate spells in the last 24 hours.
The stock will cater to the medical oxygen requirements of the hospitals for the next two and a half days and fresh indent has been placed by the two town-based oxygen filling stations to procure adequate stock of oxygen, sources added.
The district headquarters hospital in Khammam is able to meet the huge demand for oxygen from the recently inaugurated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plant and the existing 13,000 litres capacity Liquid Oxygen Tank (LOT).
All the 320 beds at the COVID-19 ward at the district headquarters hospital are presently occupied by COVID-19 patients.
When contacted, Drug Inspector, Khammam, G Surendra told The Hindu that a little over 24 metric tonnes of oxygen reached the district since Tuesday night.
The daily stock position at the two oxygen filling stations and sale of oxygen to the hospitals as per the stipulated price is being monitored by Collector R V Karnan on a daily basis.