Total oxygen production operational capacity increased to 798 tons, says Umar

(Karachi) Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that the total oxygen production operational capacity in Pakistan has been increased to 798 tons.

Taking to his Twitter handle on Friday, Umar said that the government has coped up in dealing with the rampant increase in the number of critical patients because of proactively building the capacity of the entire system from oxygen production to beds.

He said, "Total number of critical care covid patients on oxygen reached 5360 yesterday. This is 57% more than the peak last June. Alhamdulillah have so far managed to cope with this huge increase because of proactively building the capacity of the entire system from oxygen production to beds."

The minister maintained that the oxygen production has gone up from 465 tons/day last June to 725 tons currently.

He added, "Total oxygen production operational capacity in Pakistan last year was 487 tons/day. It has been increased to 798 tons. Oxygen production has gone up from 465 tons/day last June to 725 tons currently. We also imported 19,200 oxygen cylinders last year to ensure distribution."

Asad highlighted that the federal government provided 2811 oxygen beds all over Pakistan last year. "The provinces added more. Hence despite there being more than 2,000 additional covid patients on oxygen vs last June peak, you have not seen the kind of tight supply situation we saw last June."

He said, "Continuing to build capacity, in yesterday’s NCOC it was decided to import 6,000 tons oxygen, 5,000 cylinders, and 20 cryogenic tanks. It is this proactive decision making which has with Allah’s blessings help us avoid the kind of scenes being witnessed in some other countries."

The planning minister stated that the bedrock of this proactive decision making has been a data-based forward-looking analytical approach, a nationally coordinated effort with a whole of the nation approach, and the hard work of dedicated teams who have continued to steer the effort thru this difficult challenge.

He said, "However, the challenge is not over and In fact is continuing to increase. The need for precautions and following SOPs is vital at this point in time. The next few weeks are critical. No system can cope if we allow the disease to spread rapidly. May Allah be with us and protect us."