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Coronavirus: calls for more oxygen, hospital beds as India slips deeper into virus crisis
- Hospitals usually reserved for employees of ministries or public sector companies should convert some of their wards into Covid-19 facilities, the government said
- India is the world’s second most-infected nation with almost 14.8 million cases of coronavirus. One-in-six people who underwent testing on Sunday returned positive results
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More government hospital beds will be freed for Covid-19 patients, India’s health ministry said on Sunday, as the vast nation grappled with a worsening virus crisis and states appealed for additional supplies of oxygen and treatment drugs.
The country of 1.3 billion people added a record-high of 261,500 new cases on Sunday, with one-in-six people who underwent tests returning positive coronavirus results, the ministry said. India is the world’s second most-infected nation with almost 14.8 million cases.
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One bed, two patients: India’s hospitals overwhelmed by rising Covid-19 infections
One bed, two patients: India’s hospitals overwhelmed by rising Covid-19 infections
Hospitals usually reserved for employees of ministries or public sector companies should convert some of their wards into Covid-19 facilities equipped with ICU and oxygen-supported beds, ventilators, laboratories and health care staff, the government said.
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“This will go a long way to address the shortage of beds being reported from some states,” the ministry added.
Special trains would transport oxygen tankers to needy states, while the government said oxygen use for industrial purposes would be limited.
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