Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government has formed an oxygen task force to ensure the availability of adequate oxygen supplies amidst a COVID-19 resurgence across provinces, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin informed on Monday.
“When there is a shortage, the Ministry of Industry will convert the oxygen that was previously allocated to the industry to be allocated to hospitals,” the minister said at a virtual press conference on Telemedicine Services for Independent Isolating Patients, originating from Jakarta.
The task force is currently looking into the requests made by hospitals for oxygen and adjusting those requests against the needs of each hospital, he informed.
“We will also ensure logistics transportation to each hospital from existing manufacturers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has assured that the supply of drugs and oxygen for hospitals is still under control.
“This (current demand for) oxygen can be completed because there are two types of oxygen, namely for the isolation room and the intensive (care) room. Then, there is an oxygen concentrator; we will buy and order it later,” he informed.
Oxygen will also be supplied by five large-scale producers to deal with the current health crisis, he said.
“The government has asked the five oxygen producers to give 100 percent of their production to (help resolve the nation’s current) health problems,” he added.
The Indonesian government is seeking to import oxygen for COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital emergency rooms in several areas amid a spike in infections, the Health Minister had disclosed earlier on Monday.
“We have also coordinated with the industry minister to import 6 cubic meter and 1 cubic meter tubes of oxygen to meet additional needs in hospital emergency rooms,” Budi Gunadi Sadikin said during a working meeting with Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR), which was monitored virtually from Jakarta.
The distribution of liquid oxygen to hospitals in large volumes using tanks is not optimal for meeting patient needs since the majority of hospitals use oxygen cylinders for additional emergency rooms, he explained.
“So, there is a slight problem in distribution. Previously, oxygen could be delivered directly by putting it in a large liquid tank to be distributed within the oxygen network. Now, oxygen has to be delivered in canisters,” he added.
Source: Antara News