Indian Journal of Public Health (Jan 2023)

Oxygen scarcity and COVID-19: Lessons learned during the may–June 2021 Peak, Karnataka, India

  • Prashanth Bhat,
  • Mohan Kumar Raju,
  • Veenita Anand,
  • Shashikiran Umakanth,
  • K Ravikumar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/ijph.ijph_1671_22
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 67, no. 4
pp. 675 – 677

Abstract

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Oxygen is a most essential medical gas. This report shows the observations during the second wave of oxygen management in Karnataka, India, where there was an unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases during May–June 2021. The state was allocated 731 metric tons against the actual requirement 1200 (63%). While there were several bottlenecks in the production, filling, transportation, and refilling, there were issues with supply-chain management, which led to the death of 24 patients on life-support in a district. The pandemic showed fragility in existing supply chain management and warrants further streamlining to address future crises.

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