Army's Base hospital facing O2 shortage

New Delhi: The Indian Army's Base hospital in Delhi is facing shortage of medical oxygen following a substantial cut in its supply by the Delhi government, military sources said.

The authorities in the hospital said that though there was no immediate shortage of oxygen, the cut in the daily quota may result in serious difficulties in treatment of Covid-19 patients at the facility. The Base hospital, with a capacity of 450 beds, was recently designated as a COVID-19 facility. The sources said the issue of shortage of oxygen at the hospital has been taken up with authorities concerned in the defence ministry and steps are being taken to augment supplies. One of the sources said that the cut in oxygen supply was around 50 per cent of what the hospital was getting earlier. "There is no need to panic as the hospital was trying to bridge the gap in oxygen supply," said a source.

Slamming the Centre over its Central Vista project, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that at a time when people are grappling with the shortage of oxygen and vaccines in the country, it would be better if the government deploys all resources in saving lives instead of building a new house for the PM Modi

Her attack on the government came over reports that the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has informed a government-appointed expert panel that the construction of the prime minister's residence under the ambitious Central Vista project will be completed by December 2022.

India's total tally of cases crossed the 2 crore mark with 3,57,229 infections being reported in a day, while the death toll increased to 2,22,408 with 3,449 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The production of Remdesivir has gone up nearly three times to 1.05 crore vials per month as the government works hard to enhance the availability of the antiviral drug in the country, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviaya said .

United States Air Force flights that were scheduled to leave for India with essential life-saving supplies have been delayed till Wednesday due to maintenance issues, the Pentagon said on Monday. We just received word from USTRANSCOM that the flights for India are "delayed until at least Wednesday due to maintenance issues", a Pentagon spokesperson said.