NEW DELHI, May 15 (Xinhua) — India’s COVID-19 tally exceeded 24 million on Friday. The death toll increased to over 262,000 with 4,000 more deaths since Thursday morning.
In recent weeks, the South Asian country has witnessed a surging number of COVID-19 cases following an oxygen supply breakdown.
In the western state of Goa, at least 74 patients who were admitted to a state-run hospital died, due to logistic issues in the supply of medical oxygen in the past four days.
While families and friends of the dead grieved for their beloved ones, they also raged against governments and hospital administrations over oxygen shortages amid a pandemic-induced chaotic mess.
Experts said the bottlenecks of India’s oxygen supply lie in transportation and storage.
While most oxygen producers are in eastern India, the soaring demand comes mainly from western, central and northern regions.
Besides, there is a shortage of cryogenic tankers, which are necessary to transport liquid oxygen at very low temperatures to distributors. Also, many Indian hospitals do not have on-site plants to store oxygen.
To cope up with the crisis, the Indian government has started importing mobile oxygen generation plants and tankers, apart from buying portable oxygen concentrators. (Xinhua Global Service)
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