KOTA: A COVID-19 patient died allegedly due to low oxygen supply in New Medical College Hospital (NMCH), Kota on Tuesday.
"We faced a 2-5 minute disturbance due to lack of cylinders resulting in the death of a woman. The amount of pressure to operate ventilator had gone down," said Nilesh Jain, Hospital Superintendent.
The hospitals in the country have been grappling with depleting supply of medical oxygen amid spiralling COVID-19 cases.
The state health Minister Raghu Sharma Tuesday requested the Centre to ramp up the supply of medical-use oxygen to the state to meet the heightened demand due to the spike in the number of coronavirus cases.
He said the state has adequate number of beds as of now and can raise the number further up to three lakh, but it needs more oxygen to treat coronavirus patients.
He said the state requires 136 MT of oxygen, but it has been allocated 124 MT.
"Of the 124 MT too, only 65 metric tonne is being supplied to Rajasthan," he said.
He said the plant in Bhiwadi generates 120 metric tons (MT) of oxygen but Rajasthan is getting only 65 MT from there as the Centre has taken control of the plant and distributing the life-saving medical item to other states.
The minister said the Centre has fixed the quota of 1,200 metric tonnes daily for the neighboring state of Gujarat and just 124 metric tonnes for Rajasthan.
He said vaccine, injection and oxygen are life-saver elements during the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Sharma said Rajasthan has been a role model for the country in managing the coronavirus crisis and handling the vaccination programme.
"If COVID-19 vaccine, oxygen and life-giving medicines are made available as per the need, the state can set an example once again," he said, while demanding more supply of oxygen to the state.
The state reported a record spike of 12,201 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the infection tally in the state to 4,38,785, even as efforts to contain the disease are underway.
The state also reported 64 more fatalities, pushing the death toll due to the viral disease to 3,268, according to an official bulletin.
Rajasthan has imposed lockdown-like restrictions in the state from Monday.
Called "Public Discipline Fortnight", the curbs will be in place till May 3.
While routine traffic was seen plying on roads, shops, except those dealing in essential services, remained shut.
The number of active cases of the disease in the state now stands at 85,571.
Of the new infections, 1,875 are in Jaipur, 1,545 in Jodhpur, 1,382 in Kota, 932 in Udaipur, 650 in Alwar, 475 in Bhilwara, 439 in Ajmer and 401 in Bikaner.
According to the bulletin, a total of 3,49,946 COVID-19 patients have been cured in the state so far.
Of the 64 fresh deaths, 17 were in Jodhpur, 10 in Kota, and seven were in Udaipur, besides those in other districts.
(With PTI Inputs)