COVID-19 in Delhi: How the state government is gearing up for a possible third wave

Coronavirus in Delhi: As the threat of the third wave of coronavirus looms over the country, Delhi government has started preparing for the possible surge in cases. According to a report in IE, 42 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants have been installed by the state government in the hospitals, and they have a combined capacity of generating medical oxygen to the tune of 50.08 metric tonnes. The report cited official records as saying that 13 of these PSA plants have been set up in seven state government hospitals and six Centre government hospitals using the PM Cares Fund while the rest were built as part of several CSR initiatives.

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Apart from this, 18 more plants could come up in state government hospitals by the end of the month, and three more by October 15. Apart from this, using PM Cares, nine additional plants would be commissioned in several state hospitals by August 15, and four would be set up in Centre-run hospitals.

PSA plants are compact and can generate medical oxygen within the hospital premises itself, and they can be helpful in situations of emergency – like the ones the country saw during the severe second wave.

The state government is also making efforts to increase the generation of medical oxygen, while also augmenting the storage and transport capacity for it. The preparations are being carried out as per a scenario by IIT Delhi which has stated that cases in Delhi during the third wave could go up to 36,900 a day, of which 7,300 could need hospitalisation.

In this case, the PSA plants would not be sufficient to support the patients, which is why the state government would need to maintain an oxygen storage capacity of 287 MT. Apart from that, the storage capacity of 51 large hospitals in the UT would also need to be increased separately to 350 MT. To put this in perspective, the storage capacity of oxygen of the Delhi government during the second wave was a mere 20 MT.