With some countries experiencing an increase in Covid cases, the Centre urged states and union territories on Saturday to ensure the availability of Liquid Medical Oxygen, an adequate inventory of cylinders, and functional life support equipment such as ventilators in hospitals in order to meet any challenge.
The health ministry instructed them to ensure that the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generating plants are kept fully operational and that mock drills are conducted on a regular basis.
Health Ministry Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani stated in a letter to all states and UTs that the operationalization and maintenance of these medical infrastructure is critical to meet any eventuality, despite the fact that the number of cases in the country is currently low.
States have also been urged to ensure the availability of functional life support equipment such as ventilators, BiPAP, and SpO2 systems, as well as their consumables.
The letter recommended that oxygen control rooms be reactivated at the state and UT levels in order to resolve oxygen-related issues and challenges as soon as possible.