The government has asked all public hospitals with liquid oxygen storage facilities to replace them with gaseous oxygen storage for the central oxygen supply system.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque disclosed the matter at a views exchange meeting with reporters at the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) on Tuesday afternoon.
Experts and oxygen production industry insiders were unhappy with the decision. They said the government should have been able to install necessary infrastructure for the supply and storage of liquid oxygen across the country in the year since the pandemic broke out.
Liquid oxygen requires a more complex and expensive process, but it allows the storage of more oxygen in the same space as gaseous oxygen. As a result, it would allow for more efficient oxygen supply to hospitals and patients, they added.
As many as 10 companies are currently authorized to produce medical oxygen in Bangladesh. Linde Bangladesh, a concern of Linde International, is the only one among the 10 that produces liquid oxygen.
The rest only produce gaseous oxygen.
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The health minister said: “We have oxygen but most of it is in gaseous form. As such, we have asked the government hospitals that have liquid storage to replace it with gaseous storage. This will make it easier to supply them through the central oxygen supply system.”
According to the minister, there are about 50 hospitals that have liquid oxygen storage facilities.
‘No oxygen imports, no problem’
Bangladesh currently requires 90-100 tons of oxygen each day.
“We can supply up to 150 tons of oxygen per day, but we have still asked local companies to increase production capacity by 40 tons per day. There is nothing to worry about right now. We may face a crisis if the number of patients increases from 7,000 to 21,000,” the health minister said.
He also said a lack of oxygen imports from India, which stopped on April 22, would not be a problem.
“We do not import oxygen from India all year round. When there was an upward trend in infections last year, we imported it every day. Although no oxygen has been imported for the last four or five days, we are facing no trouble," he said.
"We have also taken steps to import small oxygen generation plants," the minister added.
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Meanwhile, the Department of Explosives has instructed oxygen production companies to focus solely on the production and supply of medical oxygen to hospitals and clinics, suspending the supply of oxygen to other industries.
Health minister discourages shopping, gatherings
Health Minister Zahid Maleque also discouraged the public from gathering for social programs or going shopping ahead of Eid.
“Imposing the lockdown has reduced the infection rate from 25% to 13%, but lockdowns are not a realistic, long-term measure. We need everyone to strictly follow health rules,” he said.
“The health authorities can ensure treatment of people with Covid-19, but it is preferable that people do not become infected by going shopping or to gatherings. It is better to skip Eid shopping for a year to save lives,” the minister added.
