RAWALPINDI: As the coronavirus situation in Pakistan intensifies, with oxygen manufacturers sounding the alarm of a possible shortage in the days to come, the prices of oxygen cylinders in Rawalpindi have shot up considerably.
Sources said the price of oxygen cylinders and refilling doubled, 4,000 cylinders sold for Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000, while the city administration turned a blind eye.
A day earlier, in a joint statement, manufacturers said that they are currently producing oxygen at their maximum capacity and if coronavirus cases continue to rise, the situation could turn similar to that in India, where a shortage of vital gas has triggered a serious public health crisis.
They noted that most of the oxygen’s domestic production remains allocated to the health sector and that if all plants produce oxygen at full capacity, they can meet the needs of the health sector.
Major public hospitals in Islamabad have stopped previously scheduled routine surgeries in a bid to save oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients.
According to a notification, to handle any untoward situation related to the supply of oxygen for COVID-19 patients, all previously scheduled surgeries have been stopped at the CDA Hospital, the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Government Services Hospital, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Polyclinic.
Islamabad’s administration said scheduled surgeries would remain suspended until further notice. The country has more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients on critical care, with the country reporting the highest number of deaths in a single day since the plague began, a few days ago.
Sources said at PIMS, 150 patients have been put up in the COVID-19  ward, 11 are being provided treatment at the hospital’s emergency department while seven patients have been put on ventilators.
All ventilators at the Polyclinic Hospital have been occupied, while 28 patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital’s COVID-19 ward, sources added.
Meanwhile, 42 patients at the CDA Hospital’s COVID-19  ward are undergoing treatment while 15 patients are being treated at the Services Hospital.
