Delhi needs 700 MT oxygen supply daily: Arvind Kejriwal

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New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the Centre on Thursday for supplying Delhi with 730 metric tonnes of oxygen and requested hospitals to increase COVID beds that they had to cut down due to shortage of the life-saving gas in the past few days.

If 700 MT of daily oxygen supply is ensured by the Centre, Delhi government can set up around 9,000-9,500 more oxygen beds, he said.

Kejriwal said Delhi received 730 MT of oxygen on Wednesday and the city would require daily supply of 700 MT till the second coronavirus wave lasts.

He urged hospitals that were forced to cut down number of oxygen beds due to shortage of the gas in recent days, to increase it now to previous level. This way, he added, 1,000-2,000 more beds will be added, he said. Kejriwal said 35.74 lakh vaccine doses had been administered in Delhi so far.

Around 28 lakh have received single dose and 7.76 lakh both doses of the vaccine, he said. The chief minister cited “enthusiasm” among the youth for vaccines, saying 1.30 lakh people aged 18 years and above have been vaccinated in Delhi in the last three days.