To augment the supply and distribution of oxygen amid the Covid pandemic, the Punjab government has set up state and district-level task forces to ensure that there is no shortfall, and is set to float tenders for installing generation plants and storage tanks in all three government medical college and hospitals, with generation facilities at civil hospitals in Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
These decisions were announced by an official spokesperson after a virtual Covid review chaired by chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh.
The estimated requirement for liquid medical oxygen generators and storage facilities at the three government medical colleges in Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot has been estimated at ₹9.92 crore, and tenders for the same will be issued soon, medical education and research secretary Dr DK Tiwari said.
Health secretary Hussan Lal said all efforts were being made to ensure adequate and uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen for Covid patients even in the coming weeks. Besides setting up a state-level task force under the departments of industries and commerce, in collaboration with transport and medical education, district-level task forces have been set up.
The daily requirement of medical oxygen of government and private health institutions at present has been estimated at approximately 135 MT. Medical Oxygen procured in the state is about 75 MT and liquid medical oxygen available to the state is about 80MT, according to the Health Secretary.
