Karnataka is not facing shortage of medical oxygen for COVID-19 patients, state Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Saturday. To ensure that the state does not run out of supplies, the government is sourcing oxygen tanks from Gujarat, the Minister said.
Oxygen would be supplied to not only government hospitals but also private hospitals, an official press release quoted him as saying after inaugurating COVID Molecular Lab at Siddhartha Medical College and Research Centre in Tumakuru, nearly 70 km from here.
The lab can conduct 2,000 coronavirus tests per day, the release said. Recently, a few hospitals faced a shortage of oxygen but the demand was addressed with cooperation from industrial zones at respective districts, he said.
The government is taking measures to make sure there wont be shortage in the future. With surge in demand for oxygen, the state government had last month directed all the manufacturers of medical oxygen to augment production and supply it without interruption. It asked hospitals and medical institutions also to contact the
Assistant Drugs Controllers of the respective areas to resolve any issue relating to the shortage. Sudhakar said a cost has been fixed by the government to prevent private hospitals from overcharging, and he requested the public to file complaints if they were being charged exorbitantly.