Bangladesh won’t face oxygen crisis if COVID situation doesn’t worsen: minister

Bangladesh will not face a crisis of medical oxygen given the number of coronavirus patients currently taking treatment in hospitals, Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said.

Bangladesh produces about 150 tonnes of liquid oxygen everyday and 200 tonnes more through supply lines while the country’s hospitals now need 100-150 tonnes of oxygen daily, according to him.

“There won’t be a problem of oxygen given the number of patients in hospitals. The demand for oxygen has dropped along with the number of patients,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

But a rapid rise in the number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients will stretch the supply of oxygen, the minister warned, referring to the situation India is facing now after crises in Europe and the Americas.    

He urged all to continue following health and lockdown rules to keep the outbreak under control.

The minister also said that the government would order the oxygen producers to stop supplying to industrial plants, which is 40 to 50 tonnes, if the situation worsens.

As India reels from a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, compounded by an acute shortage of medical oxygen in overwhelmed hospitals, the dire situation is raising concerns in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh gets some of its oxygen from across the border but imports have now been suspended in light of the crisis in India.

A portion of coronavirus patients develop shortness of breath or a drop in the oxygen saturation level. Under the circumstances, a patient's condition can deteriorate rapidly without oxygen therapy.

This has been the problem plaguing New Delhi in particular, where scores of COVID-19 patients are dying due to lack of oxygen as the whole world watches.