Enough oxygen stock at present but transportation is challenge, says MHA official

New Delhi: The country has enough medical oxygen at present but its transportation is a challenge and the Centre and state governments are working together to minimise the time taken in movement of tankers, a senior government official said on Monday.

“There is no need to panic. I assure you that at present union government and state governments have enough oxygen. The transportation is a challenge, as the demand of tankers suddenly grew.

The Centre and state governments are working together to minimise the time of transportation,” Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, said at a joint press conference on COVID-19 situation.

India is ordering oxygen tankers from abroad on a purchase or hiring basis. The transportation of oxygen tankers is a major challenge. Using real-time tracking, we are monitoring the movement of oxygen tankers: Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs pic.twitter.com/neBNCOPHo1

— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2021

“India is ordering oxygen tankers from abroad on a purchase or hiring basis. Using real-time tracking, we are monitoring the movement of oxygen tankers,” he added.

India is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases and reported 3.52 lakh new cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic.