Oxygen cylinders looted from hospital in MP’s Damoh, probe ordered
The demand of oxygen has gone up in several states that are witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Unidentified people on Wednesday stole oxygen cylinders when a truck went to deliver them at Damoh district hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh.
“We have been told that as soon as the oxygen truck entered the hospital some people (started) looting cylinders despite the hospital having adequate supply of oxygen,” Damoh district collector Tarun Rathi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The official added attempts are on to identify the people behind the incident and cases were being lodged.
Madhya Pradesh is suffering from one of the worst surges of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as the state recorded more than 12,000 cases on Tuesday taking its tally to 433,704. The death toll in the city also rose to 4,713 with 77 fresh fatalities. The state imposed restrictions akin to lockdown to check the transmission of the virus.
Medical experts highlighted that during the second wave of Covid-19 there is a higher demand for oxygen. Oxygen remains an indispensable tool in treating Covid-19 as the disease leads to respiratory problems.
“There has been a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases, creating panic among the people to get admitted to hospitals and, therefore, the oxygen requirement suddenly shot up, which is one reason. But this is limited data from hospital settings and more will have to be looked at,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday.
Reliance Industries Ltd ramped up its production of medical oxygen and it is being supplied free of cost to states which are severely affected by Covid-19, including Madhya Pradesh. The demand for oxygen went up in Maharashtra and Delhi as well. Delhi high court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre amid reports of a crisis in medical oxygen being reported from the national capital.