Under order by the Supreme Court, India's government agreed on Thursday to provide more medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, potentially easing a 2-week-old shortage that worsened the country's exploding coronavirus crisis. Government officials also denied reports that they have been slow in distributing life-saving supplies donated from abroad. The government raised the oxygen supply to 730 tons from 490 tons per day in New Delhi as ordered by the Supreme Court. The court intervened after 12 COVID-19 patients, including a senior doctor, died at New Delhi’s Batra Hospital when it ran out of medical oxygen for 80 minutes last week. On Wednesday night, 11 other COVID-19 patients died when pressure in an oxygen line dropped suddenly at a government medical college hospital in Chengalpet in southern India, possibly because of a faulty valve, The Times of India newspaper reported. Hospital authorities said they repaired the oxygen line last week, but the consumption of oxygen had doubled since then, the newspaper said. The number of new confirmed cases in India on Thursday breached 400,000 for the second time since the devastating surge began last month. The 412,262 new cases pushed the country's official tally to more than 21 million. The Health Ministry also reported 3,980 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 230,168. Experts believe both figures are an undercount. K. Vijay Raghvan, a principal scientific adviser to the government, called the explosion of cases “a very critical time for the country.” Demand for hospital oxygen has increased sevenfold since last month, a government official said, as India struggles to set up large oxygen plants and transport oxygen to where it is needed. India on Tuesday stated ferrying oxygen tankers from Bahrain and Kuwait in the Persian Gulf, officials said. Most hospitals in India don't have their own plants that generate oxygen for patients, As a result, hospitals typically rely on liquid oxygen, which can be stored in cylinders and transported in tank trucks. But amid the virus surge, supplies in hard-hit places such as New Delhi have run critically short. Dr. Himaal Dev, chief of the critical care unit at Apollo Hospital in the southern city of Bengaluru, said COVID-19 patients in ICU wards require at least 10-15 liters of oxygen per minute because of their reduced lung function. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India has enough oxygen but is facing capacity constraints in moving it. Most oxygen is produced in the eastern parts of India while the demand has risen in northern and western parts. The outbreak has been spreading to neighboring countries which share porous borders with India. In Nepal, thousands of people rushed to leave the country ahead of a halt to all international flights because of spiking COVID-19 cases. Nepali citizens leaving to report back for jobs in foreign countries or to visit family members and a few foreign tourists lined up at Kathmandu’s airport before flights ceased at midnight Thursday. Domestic flights in Nepal have been halted since Monday. Nepal’s main cities and towns have been in lockdown since last month as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths continues to surge. Nepal recorded its highest daily infections with 8,659 on Wednesday and 58 deaths, also a record. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the coronavirus situation with top officials on Thursday and told them to ramp up the vaccination drive. The country, with nearly 1.4 billion people, has so far administered 162 million doses but is facing vaccine shortages. The United States, Britain, Germany and several other nations are rushing therapeutics, rapid virus tests and oxygen, along with materials needed to boost domestic production of vaccines to ease pressure on the country's fragile health infrastructure. India’s vaccine production is expected to get a boost with the United States supporting a waiver of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine components from the U.S. that have arrived in India will enable the manufacture of 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said Daniel B. Smith, the senior diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Last month, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, appealed to President Joe Biden to lift the embargo on U.S. export of raw materials, which he said was affecting its production of COVID-19 shots. The government meanwhile described as "totally misleading” Indian media reports that it took seven days to come up with a procedure for distributing urgent medical supplies that started arriving from overseas on April 25. It said in a statement that a mechanism for allocating supplies received by India has been put in place for effective distribution. The Indian Red Cross Society is involved in distributing the supplies from abroad, it said.

The oxygen crisis seems to be spiralling out of control in India.   After 62 Covid patients died at three Delhi hospitals in the past 10 days due to oxygen shortage, 24 more people lost their lives at a government medical facility in the southern state of Karnataka in the small hours of Monday after it allegedly ran out of the life-saving gas.   The deaths occurred at the general hospital in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district, some 180km from state capital Bengaluru. Officials said that several Covid patients on life support were among the deceased.   Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar termed the incident as "unfortunate", but refused to acknowledge that all the deaths were due to the shortage of oxygen.   "What happened in Chamarajanagar is an unfortunate incident. I have discussed this matter with the chief minister. I am heading to Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar. I will find out how the deaths took place. And all the issues they are facing," he told the local media.   India's main opposition Congress party's leader Rahul Gandhi was quick to slam the federal government for the deaths. "Died or Killed? My heartfelt condolences to their families. How much more suffering before the ‘system’ wakes up?" Gandhi tweeted. Read Also: India launches effort to inoculate all adults against COVID   In fact, several hospitals in India, particularly Delhi, are currently facing an acute shortage of oxygen as the country witnesses a ferocious second wave of Covid. In the past 10 days, at least 62 patients have died at three leading Delhi hospitals due to an acute shortage of oxygen.   On May 1, some 12 people, including a Covid-positive doctor, lost their lives at  Batra Hospital after it ran out of the life-saving gas.   "Supply came at 1.30pm (a second tanker reached at around 4pm). But we were out of oxygen for 1 hour and 20 mins. By the time supplies came, 12 people, including a doctor, were dead. Most of them were Covid patients on life support," the hospital had said in a statement.   On April 24, Jaipur Golden Hospital, a dedicated Covid medical facility in Delhi, announced the death of 25 Covid patients in 24 hours due to "low-supply oxygen" to critical patients on ventilator.   And a day before, another leading hospital in Delhi also said in a statement that 25 patients lost their lives in 24 hours due to an acute shortage of oxygen. "25 sickest patients have died in the last 24 hours. Oxygen will last another two hours. Major crisis likely. Lives of 60 sickest patients at risk, need urgent intervention," Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had said. Read Also: India's COVID-19 tally crosses 19 mln with over 400000 daily cases   It may also be mentioned here that as many as 24 Covid patients on ventilator at a government hospital in the western state of Maharashtra died some 10 days ago after their oxygen supply ran out following leakage of the life-supporting gas from a tanker. The tanker was brought to Zakir Hussain Municipal Hospital in Nashik district to replenish the cylinders.    

The oxygen crisis in the Indian capital is escalating with each passing day. A week after 50 patients on ventilator died at two private hospitals in Delhi due to "low pressure oxygen", 12 more people lost their lives at another leading medical facility in the national capital on Saturday after it ran out of the life-saving gas. Batra Hospital said the Covid care facility ran out of oxygen at 11.45am. "Supply came at 1.30pm (a second tanker reached at around 4pm). But we were out of oxygen for 1 hour and 20 mins. By the time supplies came, 12 people, including a doctor, were dead. Most of them were Covid patients on life support," the hospital said in a statement. The deceased doctor has been identified as RK Himthani, the head of the hospital's gastroenterology unit. "He was also a Covid patient undergoing treatment at the hospital. Over 200 patients at the medical facility are still in a critical condition," a spokesperson for  Batra told the media. Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took to Twitter to express his anguish at the loss of lives. "The central government) Friday told the Supreme Court that some 10,000 MT oxygen is produced daily in the country, which is quite surplus to the daily needs of 7500MT. Delhi needs 976MT, yet Delhi's quota is 490MT and supplies only 312MT. Why?" Also read: 25 die in Delhi hospital due to oxygen shortage India's main opposition Congress party's chief Sonia Gandhi too lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the country. In a video message, the 74-year-old called for a nationwide strategy to fight the surge in Covid cases in India. "Testing should be increased across the country and medical oxygen and other resources should be arranged on war footing. Free vaccination should be arranged for all the citizens so that people can be saved," she said. "It's high time that the federal and state governments wake up and fulfil their responsibilities. Migration of the labourers should be stopped. A minimum of Rs 6,000 should be added to their accounts till the crisis is over," Gandhi said in the video message shared by the Congress on the party's official Twitter handle. Gandhi's call for a nationwide strategy and the 12 deaths at the Delhi hospital came on a day when India registered a record four lakh cases in a span of 24 hours, for the first time after reporting over three lakh daily infections for nine days in a row. Delhi alone has been logging nearly 20,000-25,000 Covid cases daily for the past fortnight. Also read: Indian capital gasps for oxygen In the past one week, at least 50 Covid patients on life support have died at two leading Delhi hospitals due to oxygen shortage. On April 24, Jaipur Golden Hospital, a dedicated Covid medical facility in Delhi, announced the death of 25 Covid patients in 24 hours due to "low-supply oxygen" to critical patients on ventilator. A day before, another leading hospital in Delhi also said in a statement that 25 patients lost their lives in 24 hours due to an acute shortage of oxygen. "25 sickest patients have died in the last 24 hours. Oxygen will last another two hours. Major crisis likely. Lives of 60 sickest patients at risk, need urgent intervention," Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had said. It may also be mentioned here that as many as 24 Covid patients on ventilator at a government hospital in the western state of Maharashtra died some 10 days ago after their oxygen supply ran out following leakage of the life-supporting gas from a tanker. The tanker was brought to Zakir Hussain Municipal Hospital in Nashik district to replenish the cylinders.

As many as 25 patients have died at a leading hospital in the Indian capital in the past 24 hours due to "low pressure oxygen". The deaths were announced by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Friday morning, soon after it sent an SOS to the Indian government flagging acute shortage of oxygen at the national capital's premier medical facility. Also read: Covid-19 turns India into vaccine importer from exporter "25 sickest patients have died in last 24 hours. Oxygen will last another two hours. Ventilators and BiPAP (ventilators for invasive treatment) not working effectively. Resorting to manual ventilation in ICUs and Emergency" the hospital authorities said in a statement. "Major crisis likely. Lives of another 60 sickest patients at risk, need urgent intervention," the statement added. A top hospital official attributed the deaths to low pressure oxygen. "Low oxygen concentration likely contributed to deaths of critical patients. Critical patients need high pressure, stable oxygen supply," Satendra Katoch, the medical director, told the media. Some 500 Covid patients are currently being treated at Ganga Ram. Of them, as many as 142 are on life support, according to the hospital. On Wednesday also, 24 Covid-19 patients on ventilator at a government hospital in the western Indian state of Maharashtra died after their oxygen supply ran out following leakage of the life-supporting gas from a tanker.  

A crisis over the supply of medical oxygen for coronavirus patients has struck nations in Africa and Latin America, where warnings went unheeded at the start of the pandemic and doctors say the shortage has led to unnecessary deaths.

Dozens of COVID-19 patients in the Amazon rainforest’s biggest city will be flown out of state as the local health system collapses, authorities announced Thursday as dwindling stocks of oxygen tanks meant some people were starting to die breathless at home.