Amid the ominous surge in Covid-19 cases, hospitals across the country are facing acute shortage of oxygen cylinders whose demand has shot up manifold.
Data shows that the requirement of oxygen in the second wave stands at 54.5 per cent as compared to the first wave at 41.1 per cent.
Patients suffering from coronavirus get treatment at the casualty ward in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital, amidst the spread of the disease in New Delhi. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
A patient with breathing problems wears an oxygen mask as she waits inside an ambulance in a queue to enter a COVID-19 hospital in Ahmedabad. Several states are facing acute oxygen shortage owing to the rising Covid-19 cases. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
A man carries an empty oxygen cylinder to get it refilled at a private refilling station, for his relative who is suffering from COVID-19, in New Delhi. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
A COVID-19 patient is given an oxygen supply mask inside an ambulance, outside the COVID-19 OPD of the Government Civil Hospital, in Ahmedabad. According to official data, the consumption of medical oxygen doubled in five days in Gujarat. Photograph: PTI Photo
Workers arrange oxygen cylinders being transported to hospital for Covid-19 patients in Ranchi. Photograph: PTI Photo
A patient with breathing problem is helped to walk towards an ambulance as he is being shifted to a hospital, amidst the spread of coronavirus in Ahmedabad. The Centre has prohibited the supply of oxygen for industrial purposes except in nine specified industries. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
Relatives of COVID-infected patients carry cylinder after purchase and refill oxygen cylinders, in Lucknow. Photograph: ANI Photo
A woman wearing an oxygen mask sits inside an ambulance along with her son, at LNJP hospital in New Delhi. Photograph: ANI Photo
