Bhubaneswar: With daily COVID-19 cases nearing 4,000 in Odisha, the state government has decided to procure at least 18,000 oxygen cylinders.
Sources in the Health and Family Welfare Department said as more COVID-19 patients are most likely to be hospitalized for treatment, a decision has been taken for the advance procurement of 8,000 D-Type and 10,000 B-Type oxygen cylinders.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 90 cubic metres of oxygen is required for 100 patients.
During the first phase of the pandemic in September last year, there was a requirement of 23 metric tonnes of oxygen for 820 ICU patients in Odisha.
At present, the daily production of the cylinder oxygen in Odisha is 129.68 metric tons while the volume of the liquid medical oxygen (LMO) production is 375 metric tons.
However, taking note of the massive surge in positive cases this year, the state government has decided to procure 18,000 oxygen cylinders in advance.
