Over 5,000 Covid-19 patients on oxygen in Pakistan: Umar

ISLAMABAD: The number of critical Covid-19 patients on oxygen reached 5,360 the previous day, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar said on Friday.

“This is 57% more than during the peak last June,” he said in series of tweets.

“Alhamdulillah [we] have so far managed to cope with this huge increase because of proactively building capacity of the entire system from oxygen production to beds,” he added.

Umar said total oxygen production capacity in Pakistan last year was 487 tons per day but it has now been increased to 798 tons. “Oxygen production has gone up from 465 tons/day last jun to 725 tons currently. We also imported 19,200 oxygen cylinders last year to ensure distribution.”

He said the federal government provided 2,811 oxygen beds all over Pakistan last year while the provinces added more. “Hence despite there being more than 2,000 additional covid patients on oxygen vs last June peak you have not seen the kind tight supply situation we saw last June,” he pointed out.

Asad Umar said the NCOC in yesterday’s meeting decided to import 6,000 tons oxygen, 5,000 cylinders and 20 cryogenic tanks. “It is this proactive decision making which has with Allah’s blessings help us avoid the kind of scenes being witnessed in some other countries,” he added.