Home ›› 31 Jul 2021 ›› Front
A surge in coronavirus cases sent the demand for oxygen and its prices skyrocketing, straining hospitals’ ability to ensure its supply to critical Covid-19 patients.
“Most hospitalised Covid patients need oxygen support. The situation is extreme,” Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Director and spokesperson Robed Amin told The Business Post.
He said the oxygen storage capacity of some of the big hospitals was 3,500-4,000 litres. “But the daily demand soared to 5,000 litres per day at some of these hospitals,” Amin said.
DGHS hospital unit director Md Farid Hossain Miah said oxygen supply had been increased but was not enough to meet the growing demand.
He said that Spectra Oxygen Limited and Linde Bangladesh Limited supplied 70-90MT of oxygen daily, but the demand has crossed 250MT per day.
Linde Bangladesh officials said they imported 200MT oxygen from their India plant on July 24.
The company said it is currently producing 90MT medical oxygen per day. It procures oxygen from other producers and supplies 160-170MT to Covid-19 dedicated hospitals nationwide every day.
Running out of beds
Hospitals dedicated to treating coronavirus patients are running out of beds as new Covid cases rise rapidly.
Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital currently has 100 dedicated beds for Covid patients, but it is treating 150 patients. Hospital Director Hafiz Uddin said they have an oxygen storage capacity of 6,000 litres, but their supply fell by half.
“We are struggling to tackle the situation,” he told The Business Post.
Gazipur Civil Surgeon Md Khairuzzaman said all hospitals in the district were filled with coronavirus patients and facing an oxygen shortage.
Officials of some hospitals said that the supply of oxygen was low despite huge demand.
‘If you have money, you’ll get oxygen’
The price of oxygen at the retail level has risen.
Md Mokter Sarker, the owner of Mahim Ambulance Services, said that refilling an oxygen cylinder cost Tk 100-120 in the past, but now the amount has risen to Tk 300.
“I don’t know about supply, but if you have money, you will have oxygen,” he said.
Md Tasfik Hossain, a medical equipment trader in Dhaka, told The Business Post that a Chinese oxygen cylinder set-up costs around Tk 15,000-16,000 while those sold by Linde Bangladesh costs Tk 22,000-25,000.
Md Abul Kalam Azad, the owner of Alfa Surgical, said that a concentrator capable of producing 5-litre oxygen per minute costs around Tk 35,000-45,000. In contrast, a concentrator with 10-litre capacity costs Tk 85,000-1,10,000.
The traders said they charge Tk 250-300 for refilling a standard cylinder.
Local companies boost oxygen production
Some local companies have started producing medical oxygen instead of industrial oxygen to help the country meet the growing demand.
M Abdullah, chief executive officer of Abul Khair Steel Mills Ltd, said their oxygen plant has a 260MT production capacity.
Abul Khair Group is supplying around 30MT of liquid oxygen through two companies approved by the government.
Shahidul Alam Al Masud, head of facility and estate at GPH Ispat, said they started producing oxygen in late 2019. Their daily production capacity is 230-250MT.
Currently, they are providing 30 tonnes of oxygen to hospitals through three government-approved companies – CNC, Spectre and Bengal Oxygen.
Vaccination, following health rules
Bangladesh on Friday reported 212 coronavirus deaths and 13,862 new cases.
The local death tally now stands at 20,467, while the caseload soared to 12,40,115. The daily infection rate went up to 30.77 per cent, the Directorate General of Health Services said.
Bangladesh is enforcing a lockdown to contain the spread of the virus, but the situation has not improved.
Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury urged the government to bring the people under vaccination and called for strict implementation of the lockdown.
“Vaccination should be given priority. Maintaining health guidelines is a must for controlling infection,” Zafrullah said, adding: “The government cannot tackle the crisis alone. All of us must come forward.”
