Nepal's hospitals stop admitting Covid patients due to lack of oxygen

Due to rapid surge in Coronavirus cases, patients in Nepal are gasping for breath. The country is  facing an acute shortage of medical oxygen due to which 16 people infected with Covid-19 died. The government on Wednesday asked private hospitals to instal their own oxygen plants to meet the need of oxygen within 15 days, the Himalayan Times reported. According to the decision, all private hospitals with more than 100 beds will have to install their own oxygen plant and the government will provide the necessary support for this purpose.

The Ministry of Health and Population said it was the responsibility of all the hospitals to set up their own oxygen plants. The government has estimated that around 15,000 oxygen cylinders are required to meet the current demand for oxygen. In contrast, there are only around 8,000 oxygen cylinders in the country. Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre, an apex government body for dealing with the pandemic, has pointed out that the country might need 50,000 oxygen cylinders by July-end. Some government hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley on Wednesday said that they no longer had oxygen supply to treat Covid patients, but they had enough cylinders to fill oxygen, the report said.

At least 12 hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley have announced plans to stop admitting Covid-19 patients for treatment due to shortage of oxygen. “The hospital is facing an acute shortage of oxygen and the government is providing only 100 oxygen cylinders per day so we cannot admit any new Covid-19 patients to the hospital,” the Grande International Hospital in Kathmandu said. Various hospitals in the Bhaktapur district of the Valley are struggling to save the lives of Covid-19 patients due to the shortage of medical oxygen.

Meanwhile, in Rupandehi district of Nepal, a total of 16 Covid-19 patients died due to oxygen shortage on Wednesday, the Kathmandu Post reported. Seven patients died at Bhim Hospital of Bhairahawa, five at Butwal's Covid Special Hospital, and four at Bhairahawa's Universal Teaching Hospital. “Efforts are on to refill oxygen from Chitwan, Pokhara and Biratnagar excluding the production within the province. Liquid oxygen is also being ferried,” Shankar Pokharel, chief minister of Lumbini Province, posted on Facebook on Wednesday. The deadly virus has so far infected 413,111 people and claimed 4,084 lives in Nepal which has a population of approximately 29.5 million.