NEW DELHI: Delhi Jal Board vice chairman Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said 41 hospitals with around 7,000 people on oxygen support sent SOS calls to the city government on May 3.
He also said that the national capital received an average of 393 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen a day last week against the requirement of 976 MT.
"Forty-one hospitals, with 7,142 people on oxygen support, sent SOS calls to the Delhi government on Monday," Chadha said, adding that 'Team Kejriwal' promptly responded to all the SOS calls and delivered 21.3 MT of oxygen to these hospitals.
The AAP leader, who has been leading efforts to mitigate the oxygen crisis in Delhi hospitals, rued that "Delhi received an average of 393 MT of oxygen a day last week against the requirement of 976 MT".
He noted that 393 MT is just 40 per cent of the total demand.
Chadha said the city got 433 MT of oxygen, just 44 per cent of the total requirement, on Monday.
He said the Delhi government has created "SOS reserves" which are used when hospitals run out of oxygen and the suppliers are not able to provide refills.
"Team Kejriwal is working round-the-clock to ensure that no life is lost in such a situation," the AAP MLA added.
Several hospitals here continue to grapple with the shortage of medical oxygen, as coronavirus cases continue to spike every passing day.
On May 1, 12 COVID-19 patients, including a senior doctor, had died at south Delhi's Batra Hospital after the facility ran out of medical oxygen for around 80 minutes in the afternoon.
The tragic incident occurred in less than two weeks of 20 coronavirus patients dying at Jaipur Golden Hospital and 25 at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, amid the oxygen crisis in the national capital.