No shortage of medical oxygen for hospitals in Punjab: Health Minister

Punjab government has made elaborate arrangements for manufacturing and refilling of oxygen cylinders to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said

The Punjabgovernment has made elaborate arrangements for manufacturing and refilling of oxygen cylinders to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen in government and private hospitals across the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said here on Friday.

"There is no shortage of medical oxygen in Punjab. Elaborate arrangements for manufacturing and refilling oxygen cylinders have been made to ensure uninterrupted supply," he said in a statement here.

Besides ensuring the supply of medical oxygen to hospitals in Ludhiana, the district administration has made adequate arrangements for ensuring oxygen supply to other districts as per requirement,the minister said.

"All arrangements have been made for manufacturing of 800 oxygen cylinders per day in Ludhiana, besides filling of 3,000 cylinders daily," the minister added.

Ludhiana is one of the worst COVID affected districts in the state. There are a total 12,754 positive cases in Ludhiana so far and 546 deaths have taken place in the district.

He said Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma has impressed upon industrialists in Ludhiana to immediately start the supply of medical oxygen for the hospitals.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministry had reinforced that it is the responsibility of every state and Union Territories to ensure hospitalised COVID-19 patients receive oxygen.