BHUBANESWAR: In a much needed respite for COVID patients in home isolation, the Odisha government on Sunday rolled out doorstep delivery of oxygen concentrators in five cities of the State.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the free service in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur through virtual mode. People can book the concentrator through the State COVID dashboard.
"Odisha has been continuously upgrading healthcare facilities for the benefit of people. The availability of oxygen concentrators will give huge respite to patients looking for the equipment and strengthen our preparedness against current and future waves of COVID-19," he said.
Health department sources said the five municipal corporations have been provided with 1000 oxygen concentrators, which will be made available to patients free of cost. The medical equipment will be given only for those whose oxygen saturation is below 94.
Patients in home-isolation or those who have been discharged from hospital, but still require one to two litre of oxygen per day can book the concentrator through the COVID dashboard or covid19.odisha.gov.in app.
The facility is also available at the Odisha COVID dashboard app for Android and iOS operating systems. Additional Chief Secretary (Health) PK Mohapatra said that the municipal corporations will monitor the requirement and delivery of the concentrators.
Once a patient books a device, a rapid response team will go to the person's house with the device and train the family members on its use. A leaflet mentioning the dos and don'ts will also be given to the user, he said.
The team will monitor the patient and when he/she gets better and no longer requires the concentrator, the device would be picked up to give it to the next patient who needs it. He added that the entire service process would be seamless and the oxygen concentrator, as well as the doorstep delivery and pickup would be free.
The State has sourced more than 10,000 concentrators. Since every oxygen concentrator saves a much-needed hospital bed for the patient in need, the service will be extended to other district headquarters when needed.
Oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates oxygen from ambient air by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched gas stream. The price of the device had skyrocketed across the country due to burgeoning demand a month back. In some cities it was priced somewhere between Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
While the country faced an acute shortage of oxygen supply and other medical aid, Odisha came to the rescue of several states by supplying medical oxygen. More than 27,348 metric tonne of oxygen have been sent to 16 states in last 45 days. As many as 1482 tankers have been engaged for the supply of oxygen.