Mumbai: With a rapid spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, 14 Maharashtra districts have resorted to installing their own oxygen generation plants.
Dr Pradeep Awate, State Surveillance Officer said since the need for oxygen has increased the liquid oxygen plants have been commissioned for 16 districts.
"13 per cent of all the COVID-19 patients in the state, require oxygen support and with the cases only increasing, the health department, the Collector and the Municipal Commissioner are being ordered to increase the stock of oxygen and bed," Dr Awate said.
Even though the demand for medical oxygen has doubled in the past two months, Dr Awate says that Maharashtra has adequate reserves of medical oxygen.
Saying that earlier, the state had a flawed medical oxygen distribution system that created a picture of oxygen deficiency, he said that the distribution barriers have now been removed.
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On Nagpur, Amravati, Latur, Osmanabad and Beed experiencing a shortage of medical oxygen, Dr Awate explained that some of the plants are situated in remote areas.
"Special attention is being paid as to how oxygen can be distributed in these district on time," Dr Awate said.
The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry had on Sunday asked Maharashtra and other six big states to ensure adequate oxygen availability in hospitals while facilitating unrestricted intra and inter-state movement of the gas.
The state tally of Coronavirus cases reached to 10,60,308 after 22,543 fresh cases were reported on Sunday.
So far, 7,40,061 persons have been discharged, while there are 290,344 cases in the state, the state health department said. The number of tests so far is 5,253,676, he added.
