‘No need to panic:’ Pakistan strives to enhance oxygen production amid COVID-19 surge

KARACHI: As coronavirus cases surge in Pakistan, the government plans to meet increasing oxygen needs by importing supplies and relying on the industrial sector, including looking at the possibility of reviving an oxygen plant at the defunct Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), officials have said.
On Wednesday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) — the federal government’s central body dealing with the pandemic — said 201 people had died in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, the highest death toll since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020.
Pakistan produces about 800 tons of oxygen, though officials have warned in recent days that its utilization rate has gone beyond 90 percent due to the pandemic.
Dr. Faisal Sultan, who advises the prime minister on public health, told the media on Tuesday the government was regularly monitoring the oxygen situation at medical facilities and considering various options to enhance supplies.
“The existing oxygen plants are being regularly monitored,” Sultan said, assuring that the government was striving to increase its oxygen production capacity. “A committee at the National Command and Operation Center is looking at the possibility of improving oxygen supply if the disease increases.”
“There has been much debate about the revival of the [oxygen] plant at the [Pakistan] Steel Mills on social media. Not only are we looking into it but also trying to explore other options. Our engineers are actively working to make more plants functional for oxygen production,” Sultan said, saying a team of technical experts had visited the site on Tuesday.
The oxygen plant has been inactive since the closure of PSM in 2015.
“A detailed technical audit report will be made in the wake of the visit,” Mohsin Ali Khan, former chief engineer of the PSM, told Arab News after the visit.
The PSM oxygen plant consists of two units, with a collective capacity of generating 520 tons of oxygen per day.
“The plant is not entirely in bad shape,” Khan added. “At least one of the units can be restored with a little replacement of spare parts.”
Mumrez Khan, convener of the PSM Stakeholders’ Group, said 90 percent of oxygen was utilized by the steel mill at the peak of the plant’s operation and only 10 percent was commercially available.
“About 50,000 oxygen cylinders can be supplied every day from the PSM plant that also needs to build a storage facility,” he said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister’s adviser on public health said the government was also willing to import oxygen from other countries.
“The import of oxygen from other countries is possible and being discussed,” Sultan said. “We also have the option of diverting oxygen supply from non-essential industries if required.”
According to companies producing oxygen in Pakistan, the situation is still under control and “there is no need to panic.”
“Oxygen supply to medical facilities is continuing without interruption,” Sarfaraz Khan, chief executive officer of International Industrial Gases, told Arab News. “At present, the utilization ratio is 90 percent. Around 60 percent of oxygen is being supplied for medical purposes while the rest is going to industries,” he noted.
Hospitals in Punjab and Sindh provinces along with the federal capital have been instructed to postpone all surgeries to save oxygen for COVID-19 patients.
“In order to address the possibility of oxygen shortage due to rise in #COVID19 cases, #SindhGovt has decided to impose a complete ban on Elective Surgeries in public as well as private hospitals. It is clarified that surgeries in emergency cases will continue #SaveOxygen,” Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui, Sindh government’s spokesperson, said in a twitter post on Tuesday.

‘No need to panic:’ Pakistan strives to enhance oxygen production amid COVID-19 surge