Nine districts in Karnataka await oxygen refilling plants

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As many as nine districts in the state are yet to have oxygen refilling plants. Though there are 64 such units across Karnataka, none have set up shop in these districts. While no private player is interested to foray into some districts, a few others have made it up with advanced technology, which has leveraged their production capacities.

Gadag, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Bidar, Yadgir, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Mandya and Udupi are the districts without oxygen refilling plants. Chamarajanagar district officials said a refilling unit is desirable, especially against the backdrop of the tragedy in May when 24 Covid patients died due to lack of oxygen. For now, it is awaiting oxygen plants with 20 kilolitre capacity to be operational on its new medical college hospital campus, and still uses the services of a private agency 70 km away in Mysuru district.

On August 16, Chamarajanagar’s oxygen consumption was 1.43 metric tonnes at five government and two private hospitals treating Covid patients. The district has 350 oxygenated beds out of which 30 are occupied. On Wednesday, there were 191 active cases in the district. During the peak of second wave, it saw 840 cases in a single day, with a peak active caseload of 6,000-7,000.